The Secret Life of Jessie
by Diane Clifford
Summary: Succession fic for Dancing Princess, Anode to Rochelle & The Amber Mystery. After five years with Amber, she's finally moving, but what will happen to the toys Bonnie left with her? COMPLETE! *Please read and review!*
1. Dreams Can't Come True, Can They?

_Notes on the fic, as always!_

_+ This fiction is set five years after **The Amber Mystery**, when the toys were donated from Bonnie to Amber. _

_+ The character Rochelle is my own O/C, derived (as many of you will know) from my original fic **Dancing Princess**, and the subsequent **Anode To Rochelle**. _

_+ The characters Lottie, Blaine, Teresa and Summer are, again, my own O/Cs derived from **The Amber Mystery**._

_+ Due to incidents occuring in **The Amber Mystery,** several of the toys wont make an appearance here, just for those of you that havent read any of the previously mentioned fictions. _

_That aside, enjoy! Please read and review this!_

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Dreams Can't Come True, Can They?**

"_Jessie?" Buzz shifted under the newspaper parcel lying on top of him, his hand reaching out in the dark of the box for his girlfriend._

"_Buzz," He heard her voice and felt someone grab at him from behind. He turned to see her arms around his waist. "I'm scared," she whispered._

_Buzz knew how she felt. They were trapped in a box, on their way – somewhere...he didn't know where..._

_Suddenly, the grip on his waist left him and he gasped, unable to move as someone plucked her from the box...then the box closed and there was darkness surrounding him._

"_No! Jessie!" He hollered, but no one heard him._

"Buzz!"

"Huh?" Wha?" Buzz woke up suddenly and stared around at the darkness.

"You were going to wake someone up," Jessie whispered, her scarlet braid falling over her shoulder as she knelt beside him.

"Jessie." It had been a dream, he realised. Just a stupid dream. Reaching up, he pulled the cowgirl down beside him. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" He whispered, and she nodded, nestling close.

"You were being quite vocal. Not like you," she mumbled into his chest.

"Aw geez, Jess, I'm sorry," he apologised again, and she wrapped her arm over his waist.

"It's okay," she soothed. "Go back to sleep."

But how could he sleep, when the vivid dream he'd just had was so fresh in his mind?

Within minutes he heard Jessie's peaceful breathing, and allowed himself to think over what had been going on the last few months.

They were at present lying on the top of the bookshelves. Scattered on the floor below them were the half packed boxes that belonged to Amber, their owner. Since coming to Amber's house five years ago after Bonnie gave them away, the toys had enjoyed a full life in the company of the little girl. She had flourished into a teenager of thirteen all too quickly, and with the growing up, she'd come – as Buzz recognised with both Andy and Bonnie before her – to rely on her toys for company less and less. A lot of her toys went into a large chest that was in the garage these days, something that Jessie had been relieved to escape.

However, with the passing years Amber's mother, wanting to leave the small town and build a new life, had decided to up sticks and move halfway across the country, to a little place called Lexington, in some state Buzz heard her mention as Nebraska. Hence the boxes on the floor, still half packed, and awaiting more things to be placed into them over the next few days.

Buzz wasn't worried. Andy had been seventeen, and so had Bonnie, before they were given away. He knew that they had another four years or so before Amber followed the same route. Still, the thought of being separated from the pretty little cowgirl now so easily sleeping next to him filled him with dread – so much so that the past few nights he'd experienced the same dream.

They'd been together now over two decades, and it felt forever to the space ranger. He loved Jessie with all his heart and soul, and she returned it every single day he was with her. They lived these days in the company of his best friend and Jessie's brother, Woody, who was currently asleep across the room on the desk, his hat pulled down over his head as he rested against Bullseye, who whinny-snorted quietly in his sleep. Slinky was coiled up at the cowboy's feet, snoozing in the light filtering through the window.

Buttercup, Dolly, Lottie and Mr Pricklepants were downstairs in the chest kept in the garage, along with multiple Beanie Babies, My Little Ponies, Barbie dolls and assorted stuffed animals. The only other familiar faces in the room were Rochelle and her band – Blaine, Summer and Teresa, who were two shelves below where Buzz and Jessie were at the moment.

Otherwise, apart from that, the room was full of posters, CDs, DVDs, and normal teenage girl stuff. Jessie had watched with bated breath every day for the last two years as Amber grew up, to see if she would turn out more like Emily, or more like Bonnie. It became clear that Amber was more like Emily in some ways, she'd judged eventually. Amber was not a wild child, despite her childhood problems some years ago, in fact she was patient, placid, and understanding. She preferred to curl up with a good book or sit watching a movie, instead of going out to play.

This led to a love of acting out her favourite movie scenes with her toys when she had been younger; again something that rarely happened these days. The last scene she'd acted out between him and Jessie, Buzz recalled, was the romance scene from the sequel to Gone with the Wind – Scarlett - where Rhett Butler had swept Scarlett into his arms and kissed her passionately. It still made Buzz blush, even though Jessie had insisted on a real life repeater later on that night.

Buzz shifted in place, a cloud of dust escaping as he moved his arm. Even though Amber was packing up, she wasn't taking care of things too well at the moment. Everything, for no apparent reason, was covered in a layer of dust, including the toys living in the room. His once normally shiny white space suit was faded and dirty now, and Jessie's red hair was losing its vibrancy, her jumpsuit dusty too, the cuffs in particular were a matted yellow colour.

Buzz sighed, as he settled down and closed his eyes. They'd all be across the miles soon enough, he thought, and then maybe Amber would remember them, and she'd clean them up.

He could only hope.


	2. Mystery Box

**Chapter 2 – Mystery Box**

The next morning Buzz awoke to an empty room, and an empty space beside him. He sat up and stretched, more dust removing itself from his suit as he got to his feet. His eyes searching the room, he noticed Amber's satchel was gone, meaning she had gone to school.

Glancing at the desk, he saw Woody and Bullseye must have vacated it, for the space occupied by the cowboy and the horse was now empty. Buzz jumped down onto a packed box, then to the floor, before going in search of the cowboy duo and their steed.

* * *

"I can't believe we're leaving it all behind," Jessie sighed. She was sitting with Woody on the bed, flipping through a old pop up baby book that Amber had found under her bed and discarded onto the nightstand.

Woody flipped another page and nodded. "I know. This area's so familiar to me Jessie. I mean, it's where Andy lived, and then we got moved to where Bonnie was, and now Amber's house not so far from where either of them grew up."

"But Nebraska, Woody." Jessie said softly, tracing the outline of a rabbit on the page in front of her. "It's so far away."

"You sure it's the distance that's bothering you?" Woody asked, raising a brow, and Jessie shrugged.

"Partly. I guess the other is the..." she broke off and bit her lip.

"The storage?" Woody guessed, and the cowgirl nodded.

"Yeah."

"I wouldn't worry, Jess. You know Buzz will be there too. He's practically a walking light bulb when it comes to dark places."

Jessie giggled. "I know." She thought fondly of her boyfriend, who had helped her through so many long nights in the darkness of Andy's toy box, Bonnie's wicker chest, and now the various places they wound up in when in Amber's room. Storage in a box to move cross country would be interesting, to say the least. But she comforted herself with the fact they'd all be together.

The sight of the space ranger climbing over the edge of the bed made her perk up even more. "Morning Buzz," she called, as he made his way over to settle down beside them.

"Morning, you," Buzz grinned at his girlfriend, then looked at Woody. "Morning, cowboy."

"Mornin'." Woody smiled at the space ranger, who had already wrapped an arm around Jessie's waist, pulling her into his lap as she squealed, her hat tumbling to the bedspread.

"Hey Jess?" Woody asked. "What happened to your hat?"

"Huh?" Jessie turned her attention from Buzz to her hat, and sighed. "Oh. Yeah. The string broke on it two days ago. I tried to fix it but I'm not as good at knots as I used to be...so I decided to just leave it until Amber gets around to fixing me up at our new home."

Woody gave a little smile. He knew what Jessie meant. He pulled at his shirt cuffs, noticing how the white was slowly turning grey and the yellow waistcoat was faded. His denim was grubby too, and his boots, once so well looked after, were scuffed now from years of playtime. The only reminder of who he was – who they all were – was etched into the sole of his left boot, which he'd occasionally turn over on a particularly lonely, sleepless night.

"Where's Bullseye?" Buzz suddenly asked, realising that the cowboy was minus the horse.

"Oh, he's down on the floor with Slinky. He's trying to learn how to play fetch." Woody grinned, indicating over the side of the bed. "I swear that silly stallion turns into a dog every day."

"You just leave Bullseye alone," Jessie said from her place in Buzz's lap. "I think it's cute what he does."

Woody rolled his eyes, and subsided, watching his little sister in the arms of the space ranger. He was so looking forward to getting to Lexington. He couldn't stand this hanging around waiting for much longer.

* * *

"Amber honey, don't forget to finish up those boxes. We need them sorted out in time for tomorrow," Mrs Marshall called from down the hall, and Amber groaned from her place on the bed. It was an hour after she had come home from school and she had spread her books over the blanket in preparation to complete her homework.

"Yes mom," She called, hauling herself up, walking over to the boxes scattered around the bookcase.

Buzz watched the young girl picking up a stack of books from her bookshelf below where he sat with Jessie. He was still amazed at how quickly Amber had grown up. She had shot up to five foot two in what seemed to be a very short space of time, and her hair had grown too; it fell in shades of blonde around her shoulders. Her blue eyes roved over the shelves, selecting various ornaments which she was wrapping in newspaper to protect for the journey ahead.

Buzz suddenly had a thought as he continued to watch her pack the box, and was confused by it. Did Mrs Marshall say the boxes needed to be ready for _tomorrow_? He thought they weren't moving until the weekend.

Before he could peruse the thought any further, Buzz found himself in Amber's clutches, and she put him into a box. Jessie joined him a few moments later, her big green eyes blinking at him questioningly when it was safe to do so. Amber left the box open, and after a short while, more paper wrapped parcels joined them, and after this, the familiar figures of Bullseye and Woody entered the box from above too.

"All done, Mom," they heard Amber call some time later, and then the sound of her bedsprings creaking could be heard as she jumped back onto her bed, presumably to continue where she'd left off with her homework.

"This is it!" Woody whispered, as Bullseye flicked his tail happily. "We're finally moving."

Buzz nodded, and clutched at Jessie's hand. But even though it seemed to be the case, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that settled over him.

* * *

The night passed in a blur. The toys, surrounded by books and paper wrapped parcels, couldn't move too much, so instead they sat and whispered together about what the move would be like. Woody had been on Amber's computer, researching pictures of the state, and filled Buzz and Jessie's minds with images of dusty windswept plains, hot sunshine, green grass, and quaint little wooden houses. The capital cities were obviously more built up, but the area they were moving to would be less so, he advised them, so there would be more fresh air and outdoor life than they were used to.

Jessie, Buzz noticed, had a dreamy look on her face, no doubt she was imagining it to be more like the cowboy ranch type home she'd never really experienced firsthand. He grinned at her as she rambled on about all the fun they were going to have, and how great it would be to see the other toys again.

However the feeling he'd had from when they'd first been put into the box wouldn't leave him, even as he listened to his friend's excited chatter. He didn't know if it was merely nerves, or whether it was the brashness with which Amber had packed them.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Jessie leaning her head on his shoulder, whispering to him that she was sleepy. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close as she settled down. He noticed Woody had leaned back on the side of the box, and Bullseye had lain on the floor, his head on his folded hooves.

With a soft sigh, Buzz allowed his own eyes to drift closed, wondering what the morning would bring.

* * *

He didn't have to wait long to find out. He was awoken by something dropping into the box above him, and he sat bolt upright. Next to him, Jessie had jumped awake too, and she was staring at whatever had entered the box. Buzz exhaled, his heart hammering from the rude awakening, realising it was only a book.

Across from them, Woody suddenly spoke. "Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't this the book we were looking at yesterday?"

Buzz glanced at the cowgirl, who had tipped her head to one side, deciphering the writing on it.

"I think it is. Why would Amber be packing her old baby bo-" she began slowly, but she was cut off as the box lid suddenly closed on them without warning.

Startled, Buzz groped for Jessie in the dark, suddenly feeling her wrap her arms around his waist. "I'm scared of the dark, Buzz," she whispered, and the nerves he'd felt the previous night returned full force as they felt the box being picked up and carried somewhere...he didn't know where...

It felt like déjà vu to him, he realised, as he felt the box be placed down a few minutes later.

The box was placed down, and brilliant sunlight flooded through the top as the lid was opened. Buzz was his guard instantly.

This wasn't right.

He could hear various chattering and children shouting, cars coming and going down the road. He could see the blue sky, the tops of the trees in the garden belonging to Amber's parents, and as Amber pulled him from the box, the tables with possessions strewn on them.

With dismay, Buzz realised exactly what was going on.

This was a yard sale.

They were being sold.

* * *

**I do LOVE a cliffhanger, don't you? Bwahaha.**


	3. Too Good To Be True

**Chapter 3 – Too Good To Be True**

As Amber placed him on a table in the bright sunshine, Buzz allowed his eyes to move ever so slightly. He could see some children running between the tables, playing hide and seek under them, chasing each other, their happy laughter ringing out in the summer air. It reminded him of all the summers he spent in gardens before now, being played with by a child, and his heart ached for the company of Andy, Bonnie or Amber all of a sudden.

He glanced back, moving his head just a fraction, to look over where Amber was unpacking the box onto the table beside him, noticing Jessie had been placed down with Woody and Bullseye – no doubt Amber didn't associate him with the cowboy posse. She continued to unpack the box without a second glance in his direction - books, trinkets and other assorted items tumbling onto the table to fill it.

As she picked up the empty box and started to move away from where they were, Buzz saw Jessie's wide green eyes search the table until they landed on him. She mouthed something to him, and he smiled at her.

"It'll be okay," he mouthed back, just as a shadow fell over the now cluttered table. The shadow moved over him; to be overlapped by other shadows soon after - people moving back and forth in front of where they were.

After some considerable time, Buzz noticed there was one young woman coming along the table from Jessie's direction, her short brown hair cut in a bob shape around her ears. She was running her fingers over the books on the table, not really taking any interest in them, but instead talking animatedly on a cell phone. As she drew nearer still, Buzz was able to make out snippets of her conversation, right up until the girl walked right along to where Jessie sat. He saw the girl glance over at Jessie and her expression changed.

"Gina, I'll call you right back," she said quickly, hanging up her phone and stuffing it into the pocket of her jacket.

With bated breath, Buzz watched the girl pick up Jessie and turn her over, exclaiming to herself. The space ranger watched as she spotted the other two now as well, placing Jessie down and beginning to pick up Woody and Bullseye too. She turned them over one by one, remarking to herself again, this time over the condition of them.

Buzz winced. He knew they all looked as if they could have badly needed a wash. He wondered why Amber hadn't bothered to tend to them before putting them out for sale. A voice along the table made him come out from his thoughts, to see Mrs Marshall – Amber's mother – talking with the young girl, who now held Jessie, Woody and Bullseye in her arms.

"I know they were donated to my daughter, and she just hasn't the time to look after them as she should, really. I'll let you have all three for $15." Mrs Marshall was saying, and the young girl nodded.

"Do you have a bag?"

"Certainly," Mrs Marshall started to take the toys from the young girl, and then stopped.

"Hm. The cowgirl appears to be missing her hat. I expect my daughter still has it in her room somewhere."

With a start, Buzz looked again at Jessie and noticed she was indeed, minus her hat. He watched as Mrs Marshall walked towards the house, leaving the young girl to pace down the table a little further. Her shadow fell across exactly where he was sitting. Buzz forced himself to freeze, waiting for her to pass him by in her browsing, but she hovered, setting the three toys she held down, in order to pick him up too.

He found himself staring up at a pair of chocolate brown eyes that appreciated every single detail. She pressed at the large red button on his right panel, and he felt his wings spring open. He saw her smile, as she pressed to check his helmet worked too.

"Perfect," he heard her say, just as Mrs Marshall rejoined them.

"Here's her hat. Found it lying beside Amber's bed. What do you have there?"

He was presented to the eyes of Mrs Marshall, and the older woman nodded. "Another of my daughters toys."

She paused.

"$20 for all four?"

* * *

"I can't believe it," Woody was the first to speak. "What are the chances?"

They were sitting in the back of the car that the young woman – her name still unknown to them – had driven them away from Amber's house in. She had stopped off at the mall and left them on the backseat, and the four toys had greeted each other with hugs – although none more violent than the bear hug Jessie bestowed on Buzz. In fact, she hugged him as if she didn't want to let go.

"I know," Buzz said quietly, his arms still around Jessie. He had been so afraid when they had been on the table. He thought he was going to be left for another child, that he'd never see Jessie, Woody or Bullseye again. He hadn't mentioned this out loud, though.

"She seemed to like us." Jessie murmured, "I heard her say I was pretty."

"She said I was perfect," Buzz murmured back to his girlfriend, kissing her forehead.

"She obviously sees something Amber didn't," Woody surmised, brushing at Bullseye's mane, which emitted a cloud of dust, making them all cough a little.

"Amber." Buzz muttered after he'd recovered. "She just dumped us out like we didn't matter. She didn't even say goodbye."

"Sometimes you don't get that chance," Jessie breathed, burying her head in his chest, and Buzz sighed. No doubt Jessie's observations of Amber had proved to be incorrect after all; although Amber had been, for the most part, placid and patient like Bonnie, she had turned out to be exactly like Emily in other ways.

"Well, at least we have a new home with this girl." Woody said from across where they were. "We're moving, even if it isn't to Nebraska."

Jessie's eyes clouded over. "I won't get to see my windswept desert home after all. And we won't ever see the other toys again. No more Slinky, no more Lottie, or Rochelle, or Dolly, or Buttercup, or..."

She trailed off and didn't finish. A silence hung in the air between them all, in which Buzz glanced at Woody. The cowboy only shook his head sadly, and Bullseye licked his cheek. With a snort, the cowboy pushed Bullseye away and wandered to hop up onto the ledge that afforded a view through the car window. Buzz stayed where he was with Jessie still snuggled into him, Bullseye nosing at the plastic bag that had contained them up until recently.

Woody was back very shortly. "Quick, into the bag! She's coming back!" he shouted, and the four of them dove into the confines of the plastic once more.

They heard a key in a lock – the car door opened, some things were put on the seat next to them, and then the door shut again. Another door opened, the jangle of keys heard clearly as they were fitted into another lock, then the drum of the engine as the car was started.

As the car pulled away, Buzz glanced out at the bag on the seat next to them, which bulged with shiny papers, ribbons and other accessories. The uneasy feeling returned, even as Jessie clambered onto his lap for the journey. He kissed her chastely on the cheek, not wanting to wonder anymore, but unable to help himself. What was going to become of them?

What if it _really_ was too good to be true?


	4. Separation

_Hey guys. Shameless plug time!_

_ If you're enjoying my fictions, you should totally look up **funkywatermelon**. Her fic "To Meet a Friend", is something I'm co writing with her. :-) __I am reading your reviews on it and would love to know what you think as it progresses. Thanks xx_

_But as always, review my own solo efforts too! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Separation**

The car stopped after what seemed to be many many long minutes. The engine ceased to hum as the young woman climbed out of the car and collected the two bags from the back seat. They were carried into a house, and there was the bump as the bags were placed on a hard surface of some kind. They heard talking; the girl who had bought them could be heard first, her excited syllables drifting to meet their ears. Then another, unfamiliar voice joined in.

"You got her toys?" Really? At her age?"

"You know what Liz is like, Mom. She'll love it."

This sounded odd. The toys glanced at each other, just as a hand reached into the bag. With a frightened glance at her counterparts, Jessie was lifted out into the light. Buzz wanted to scramble after her, but he knew in the back of his mind that it would do no good.

"Oh my gosh, she's beautiful. She could do with a bit of a clean, though." The unfamiliar voice now remarked.

"Liz will take care of that. I mean, it's not like she hasn't looked after things before. Look at all the animals she's had over the years."

"True...well, you better get a move on. Weren't you due to meet her at three? It's nearly half two now."

The younger girl cursed under her breath and rustled in the other bag. Buzz looked at Woody in horror. His dream, he realised, was coming true. He was destined to be separated from the cowgirl after two decades of being together.

Buzz realised, as strange snipping and more rustling noises were heard, that Jessie had been right in what she said.

_Sometimes you didn't get the chance to say goodbye._

* * *

The three remaining toys sat forlornly in the bag together long after the house fell quiet. The young girl evidently had taken Jessie to some child called Liz, who would love her and care for her. But what was to befall him, Woody and Bullseye, Buzz wondered?

Neither him nor Woody had spoken a word since the cowgirl had departed, and even Bullseye had been strangely quiet. Woody was evidently feeling the loss as much as he was, the space ranger surmised. He'd lost his sister and Bullseye had lost the mistress he'd always known.

Buzz just hoped Jessie was okay. He hoped she was safe and warm and...

Oh who was he trying to fool? He couldn't even fool himself. He regressed, right back to the day in the incinerator when he'd made the first move after so long and taken her small hand into his. He remembered the first time she curled into him for comfort. The first time he'd kissed her. The first time that they'd danced together. The first time they made love. So many firsts, and yet only one end.

Without warning, a sob rang in his ears, and to Buzz's dismay, he realised the sob had come from his own throat. "Jessie," he choked out miserably, wrapping an arm around himself. He closed his eyes, raising one hand to place over his mouth, masking the sounds coming from it. It was too much, too soon. The pain ripped right through his core at the thought that he'd lost her, forever, to some place he'd never know. A comforting hand was laid on his back, and a soft, broken, southern drawl met his ears.

"I know Buzz. I miss her too."

However the gentle sentiment delivered by his best friend, only served to make Buzz's sobs and subsequent tears flow harder and faster than before.

* * *

Woody watched his long time friend in agony, and raised his eyes to where Bullseye stood in first of them. He never thought the Roundup Gang would be separated; now it seemed that was being put to the test once again. What were any of them without Jessie in their midst, the sweet little cowgirl who could make a toyroom light up? He'd never thought of Jessie in any other fashion than merely his sister that he'd lost and found again. With her now missing, Woody suddenly realised that without her, his life was going to be a lot duller. The only potent memory of her remaining was the steed she'd left him with. Bullseye's ears had lowered either side of his head, and he was scuffing at the plastic bag beneath him with a hoof.

Woody watched him for a moment, and then spoke finally.

"I wonder what was in that other bag?"

"Who cares?" Buzz muttered, wiping the tears of sentiment from his eyes, keeping his head lowered.

"Well...maybe it would help us find out where she went to."

Buzz didn't reply, so Woody guessed he was going to have to go it alone.

"Bullseye, give me a boost," Woody said to the horse, climbing up onto the horses back. He pulled down the side of the bag and peeked out, making sure the coast was clear before scrambling from the bag to the surface below. When he landed, he realised he was in a kitchen on the worktop, and the other bag that had been brought in with them was tipped onto its side. From it spilled a variety of different coloured paper, brightly coloured paper boxes, ribbons and bows. Next to the bag lay a pair of scissors, and a roll of clear tape.

Woody thought back to the rustling they had heard. It became obvious to him in a flash, and he crawled back into the plastic bag to relay the news to the others.

"Guys! I know where Jessie is!"

Buzz looked up hopefully.

"She's been given as a present to that Liz!" Woody couldn't keep the excited tone out of his voice.

"How does that help us?" Buzz asked, folding his arms.

"Don't you get it?" Woody exclaimed. "We find Liz, and we find Jessie!"

* * *

"Mom? I'm back." The sound of the young woman's voice filtered through Woody's brain as he sat there waiting. They had agreed to take it in turns to sleep that afternoon, and wait for the young woman's return from wherever she had taken Jessie. It was many hours till this happened, and Woody sat straight up in recognition, nudging Buzz who was snoozing beside him.

"Uh...wha-?" Buzz snorted, coming awake.

Woody put a hand over the space ranger's mouth. "Shaddup," he hissed, straining his ears to hear.

"I'm just going to take my stuff upstairs." The young girl called from the hallway.

"Okay. Don't forget we're going out tonight for dinner with your aunt." Came the other female voice from another room further away.

"I haven't Mom. I'll just sort my things out and then I'll get changed." The young girl called back.

The sound of footsteps came into the kitchen and the bag jostled as it was picked up. The toys encountered a bumpy ride, Bullseye falling over on top of Woody as they were carried up what seemed to be a flight of stairs. They were placed down again, this time on some kind of soft surface, and one by one the young woman pulled them out into the light.

They were settled gently into a plastic tub sitting on a shelf, and Woody looked at Buzz. Was that it? That was all that was going to happen to them? He crawled forward a little and peeked out, just in time to see the young woman pick up her cell phone and tap a few keys.

She settled herself on the bed as she waited for the call to connect, and then began to speak.

"Lizzie? It's Amanda. Did I leave my lipgloss at yours?"

Pause.

"I did? I'll be right there."

Woody blinked at the conversation. Amanda was going all the way back to Liz's house in order to collect some lipgloss, when she had to go out that night too?

As the girl left the room, Woody scrambled out of the box. He landed on a piece of shelf, running along it, climbing over books in his way. It was now or never.

"Woody!" Buzz called from behind him, but the cowboy didn't turn. He had to get to the window. He had to see which way Amanda was going. Skirting another box, Woody suddenly ran out of shelf. He looked down. The bed was directly below him now, and the only safe place. The window was parallel to the top of the bed.

There was only one thing for it.

Woody jumped.

He landed on the bed in a heap, untwisting himself quickly. He looked back up to see Buzz and Bullseye watching from above. There was no time to waste though.

Woody leapt up to the windowsill. He pressed his hand against the glass, searching for Amanda's presence outside, and saw her going out of the gate, and walking along the road opposite. She turned into a house three doors down, and he saw her ring the bell. The door opened, and after a short conversation with a brunette at the door, Amanda turned and started to retrace her steps back to her own house.

Woody had seen enough. That _had _to be where that child Liz lived, he thought, as he began to climb down off the windowsill and started to figure out a way back up to the box on the shelf. Amanda must be her babysitter or something, and that brunette must have been Liz's sister or her mother.

It was all making sense now.

He couldn't wait to tell Buzz and Bullseye.


	5. Locating Lizzie

_Wow, I'm inspired to write this evening. It's great, cos I can spoil you guys with another chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Locating Lizzie**

That evening, when Amanda left the room for dinner at her aunt's, the toys made their move. Buzz had been overjoyed at Woody's news to know Jessie wasn't that far removed from them, and had insisted they go across to the house to at least let her know they weren't going to give up on her without a fight. Sadly, Woody had to leave Bullseye behind in the box, since he was too clumsy to get from the window to the ground safely. The little horse didn't seem to mind though, and licked Woody's cheek before he left.

With Buzz in tow, the cowboy made his way to the windowsill in the same way as earlier – from the shelf to the bed. They squeezed through the gap that remained between the window and the ledge, and crept along the outer sill to the drainpipe. Sliding down it was easy – both toys had completed such manoeuvres from Andy's window long before now. Landing on the grass, they began to run for the fence, pressing against it while they caught their breath. Then, with a glance exchanged between them, they slipped between the struts of the fence and out onto the road beyond.

Once across safely, Woody led the way, to the little house three doors down - with bushes instead of a fence around the property. They pushed their way into and through the bracken. It was as Woody was deciding what option would be best for getting to, and entering the house, that Buzz spoke.

"Woody. How are we going to find the child's room? We don't even know where she'll be."

Woody looked at his friend, stumped for a moment.

"Maybe..." the cowboy started to say, "Maybe we should just check all the windows. If we can get an idea of how many people we have to avoid in the house...we can make our own way upstairs without being caught."

Buzz nodded. It was worth a try, for Jessie's sake.

* * *

Minutes later they were on the first windowsill of several. The window appeared to belong to a kitchen, and as they peeked through cautiously, Woody saw a brunette standing over the sink. He recognised her as the girl who had answered the door to Amanda earlier. Seeing her close up, he could tell she wasn't old enough to be Liz's mother.

"She must be Liz's sister," he hissed to Buzz, who nodded, watching the girl now preparing pasta over the hob. They saw her mouth moving as she called to someone in another room, and after some time she finished her cooking and left the kitchen, snapping off the light. With the room plunged into darkness, the toys leapt down into the garden again, searching out the next window.

The next window was in darkness however, but the third seemed to belong to the family den. Buzz was first to peek through, catching glimpses of an older woman and man sitting watching television together. The clock on the wall read 8.30pm, and Buzz turned to Woody.

"Liz might be in bed. It's too late for a child to be up."

"Or she could be a little older. Either way, she must be in her room," Woody whispered back. "I bet if we can locate her room right now, we'll see Jessie again, Buzz."

Buzz shivered slightly, thinking of the redhead who meant so much to him. "Let's go, cowboy," he whispered back, and the two toys started to climb down from the sill, searching out a drainpipe or similar handhold to allow them to access the first floor of the house.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"This better be the right room," Woody muttered, sidling across the ledge to peek through the curtains at the interior. His eyes fell on a large room decorated entirely in white with stencil patterns. Near the window was a pile of pillows and a beanbag chair; a dresser that held a lava lamp, but otherwise strewn with cosmetics; then next to the dresser a large wardrobe; and to the far end a television and stereo unit. To the right of the window sat the bed, half obscured by a funny little slanting wall that alcoved the bed from the rest of the room.

He saw the young brunette from the kitchen in the room, and because of the window being open slightly, he could hear the music playing from a laptop sitting on the bed. She was eating pasta; forking tendrils of it into her mouth, between sewing something rapidly.

Woody blinked as Buzz joined him at the sill. "This can't be the right room," he muttered to his companion. Buzz didn't say anything. He just stared.

"Buzz?" Woody gave the space ranger a gentle push, and when Buzz didn't respond, Woody followed his gaze back into the room. The cowboy hadn't noticed it, but the girl sewing was holding Jessie's jumpsuit in her hands. The cotton and thread flew in and out as she sewed the seams fluently.

"What's that girl doing with Jessie's jumpsuit?" Woody voiced the thought aloud, and glanced around the room they were looking into. Buzz suddenly clutched at Woody, and pointed.

"Look!"

Following his friends gaze a second time, Woody caught sight of Jessie. She was right there in the room, lying on a pillow, her hat sitting beside her. Her small body was covered with a piece of cloth. She appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be asleep.

"Jessie!" Buzz pressed his hand to the window, and Woody grabbed him.

"Buzz, don't be stupid. She'll spot us," he whispered, jerking his head in the direction of the brunette who was still sewing Jessie's jumpsuit together.

"But Woody, we have to get into the room and save her," Buzz said firmly, tugging his hand free.

Woody was about to scold Buzz for being deluded enough to give away their secret of coming to life, when the girl snapped the thread she'd been using and stood up. Woody grabbed Buzz and they jumped out of view.

o0o0o0o0o0o

It was a while before either of them moved, and when they did, Buzz was first to take the plunge. Peeking around the slat of the window, he shielded his eyes as he saw the young woman pick up the doll from under the cloth. He knew full well Jessie wouldn't be wearing clothing now, and wanted to spare himself his blushes in front of Woody.

Uncovering his eyes at last, Buzz deemed it safe to peer inside again. He saw the brunette sitting on the bed, Jessie in her hands - now thankfully fully dressed in a now very clean and tidy jumpsuit. The girl was combing Jessie's hair through her fingers gently, smoothing it flat.

She lay Jessie down on the bed for a moment. Jessie remained lifeless as the young woman rooted in a small square green box on the dresser. When she returned to the bed, she dropped several items down onto the mattress. Sitting down again, she placed Jessie between her knees to hold her steady.

The first thing Buzz saw her pick up was the length of yellow ribbon. She began to deftly twist Jessie's yarn hair into a ponytail, and wrapped the ribbon around the yarn twice, tying the ends securely in a small knot. She smoothed the ponytail down and smiled, before lying Jessie back down again.

She then took Jessie's hat and placed it on her lap, picking up a needle and what looked like thread; measuring the thread around the cowgirls face. She snipped off a small length and began to thread the needle with it, pushing the needle through the holes on the hat and creating a loop of thread so the hat would stay on Jessie's head. Snipping off the excess thread, the girl fitted the hat onto the cowgirl, pulling the thread a little. Buzz realised the girl had used elastic for the fitting, not thread, due to it stretching comfortably around the cowgirls face.

With a satisfied smile, the girl settled Jessie back on the pillow next to her, picked up the laptop, and began to type furiously on the keyboard.

Buzz couldn't tear his eyes off Jessie. He realised the brunette had just given the cowgirl a new lease of life, presumably so Jessie could be given to her little sister.

From behind him came a tap on his shoulder. "Buzz. We have to leave. Amanda will be back soon."

Buzz's face fell as she stared into the room at Jessie. He was so close to her, yet so far away. He couldn't imagine how she was feeling, separated from both Woody, Bullseye, and of course, himself.

With a heavy heart and a final glance at the redhead, Buzz turned and started to make his way down the sill after Woody. With every step he hated himself for not springing into the room and carrying Jessie away with him.


	6. Imprints

**Chapter 6 - Imprints**

_Quarter moon, always makes me think of you _  
_Are you thinkin' of me too? When you see it shine _  
_It's kind of sad; But I'm smiling, Imagine that _  
_Cause we're lucky to have had what we had - even for a __time _

_Didn't we set the nights on fire _  
_Did ever a flame burn any higher _  
_Wasn't it so sweet? Wasn't it? _  
_Didn't we love _

_~ Didn't We Love - Tamara Walker

* * *

_

The girl had gone to put her empty pasta bowl in the sink downstairs, and when the sound of her footsteps faded from earshot, Jessie sat up a little on the end of the bed.

She fingered the elastic running under her chin, inspected the jumpsuit she wore, and a little smile crossed her face. She was clean, mended, all put together and loved, just the way she should be. This was what she'd been dreaming of since a few months after Amber had placed her on the dusty bookshelf with Buzz.

_Buzz._

She sighed, thinking of the space ranger. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been cuddling her in the plastic bag in the back of Amanda's car.

"_She didn't even say goodbye."_

"_Sometimes you don't get that chance."_

She winced at the memory of their conversation, and looked across at the window. Where was Buzz? Was he safe? Was he still with Woody? Or had he gone to a different owner too? The sound of footsteps on the stairs made her flop back in position, and as she did so, the brunette who had fixed her walked back in.

Jessie judged the brunette to be in her mid 20's right from the outset. What was she doing fixing toys? This girl was way too old to own anything fluffy or cute, in Jessie's opinion. She should be out chasing boys, building a career, maybe even raising a family. She thought back to the first time she'd viewed the young woman with intrepidation and wonder...

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"_Amanda!"_

_Jessie felt the box she had been put into drop slightly. She curled up in a foetal position, staring at the wall of darkness surrounding her. Why was she being stored in such a small container? This had be toy cruelty, even torture, she thought; even though she hadn't been in there long it scared her, reminded her of the storage from years ago. _

_She closed her eyes tightly, and behind the darkness of her eyelids, something glowed in her brain. She saw Buzz there, his fluorescent green glow a comfort. She snapped out of the thought, her eyes re-opening, as something around her ripped. She gasped, and froze as the box suddenly opened to reveal daylight streaming in._

"_I hope you like it. I know how much you love fixing these kinds of things." Jessie had recognised the voice. That was Amanda talking. What was she still doing here?_

"_I do, you're right!" Hands carefully pulled Jessie from the box, a smile thrown in Amanda's direction by the young girl. "I'll take good care of her. Sheesh, she's a state though."_

"_Yeah. She's got some kind of stain issues going on with the cuffs, and the hat string's broken, and her seams are a little ripped, but I'm sure she'll shine up a treat." Amanda's voice floated over._

"_It's cool. I'll ask Dad what to do. He'll know!" came the second voice again. "She'll be gorgeous when she's finished."_

"_I can't wait to see what you do with her." There was a slight pause. "Well, maybe we should get going for dinner. I can't wait to tell you what Jacob said to Mark the other day," _

_The other girl laughed, and settled Jessie back into the box. She didn't close the lid though. "Okay, okay! I'll just go put the doll in my room for now."_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

So that was how she'd wound up in this large room, sitting on the bed. The girl had come back home after dinner with her friend, and set straight to work on Jessie's outfit. The first thing she'd done was to remove the jumpsuit from the cowgirl, taken it downstairs and washed it before mending it. Then she'd redressed her, styled her hair, and fixed her hat.

As Jessie sat, thinking all this over in her mind, the girl grabbed her off the bed and snuggled down under the covers, sitting Jessie up against the pillow next to her. She pulled out a gadget and started pressing buttons on it, giggling away to herself as the device pinged.

Jessie risked a glance at the girl, whose brown hair fell past her shoulders, her green eyes glittering wickedly with glee as she tapped more buttons. She wondered about her, who she was, what she had in store for her, why she had fixed her.

And who - and where - the heck was this Lizzie that Amanda had spoken of?

* * *

"Buzz, will you snap out of it?" Woody hissed. Buzz had been annoyingly quiet the entire time they had made their way home. It was almost like another of his nervous breakdowns; similar to the one he'd had in Sid's room so many years ago. Now they were back in the box where Amanda had stored them, Woody was petting an overjoyed Bullseye, as well as trying to make Buzz cheer up.

Of course, Woody knew it would be a hopeless task. Buzz was attached to Jessie now, like she was a gadget he owned, or one of his wings. Breaking them up was probably hard for both of them, but Woody figured it was probably best to use the "cruel to be kind treatment" given that there was never any guarantee they would always stay together.

"Why, Woody? What good will it do?" Buzz hissed, climbing to the edge of the box and looking out of the window. The moon glowed faintly from above them, its white light streaking through the window and casting a effect over the bed in the dark room.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Behind him, Woody sighed, and Buzz knew the cowboy was beaten. There was nothing more to say. Jessie was going to a new owner soon, and they were stranded across the street from her, never knowing what would become of the cowgirl. He sat back and glanced around at Woody with Bullseye. The cowboy, evidently exhausted from their mission, had settled back against the horse, his hat pulled down over his eyes. Both toys had their eyes closed in preparation for sleep.

Buzz exhaled and turned back to the window. He noted that the moon was waning, but it continued to wink down at him as he curled up; remembering the sound of Jessie's laugh when they cuddled together in the moonlight, the way it would reflect off her emerald eyes when she gazed at him, the way she looked when she nestled closer to press her lips against his.

Buzz stifled another sob, and clapped a hand over his mouth, so as not to disturb the slumbering toys in the far corner. She couldn't be gone. He was going to wake up soon and this would all be a dream, and they'd be back in Amber's room on the bookshelf.

But something in the back of his mind told him the effort was fruitless. As much as Buzz hated giving up, he knew it was over – their family broken, bonds ripped, friendships dissolved across the miles, and his girlfriend lost to him for good.

* * *

The young girl had fallen asleep many minutes ago, and until she was completely sure she was asleep, Jessie didn't dare budge from her place. Only when the girl let out a soft snore did the cowgirl finally deem it safe enough. Hopping over the pillow, she vaulted herself down to the floor, scrambling over the beanbag chair that sat under the window. She pulled herself up on the cushions, grabbing at the side of the heater that was attached to the wall, hauled herself up over the top and grasped at the narrow windowsill, climbing onto it.

Jessie pushed a candleholder out of the way and looked out of the window. Below her gaze and stretching out for a good mile in front of her, lay rows and rows of houses. Jessie gawped - she'd never seen so many houses. Emily, Andy and Bonnie had lived rather openly in a house that didn't attach to any other buildings, and Amber had lived in a house that only connected to one other building. But these houses connected to one after the other, in stacks of three or four.

Tearing her eyes from the houses and gardens laid out in a pattern, Jessie looked up at the sky. She'd always looked at stars when she'd sat on the windowsill with Buzz. Now it looked like she'd have to do that alone. A tear came to her eye as she settled herself to kneel on the ledge, her eyes darting to where the moon shone down on her. It was a waning moon, she noticed. Buzz had taught her what that was, one particularly romantic evening they'd spent together a few months ago.

She missed him like crazy. She'd never wanted to admit that this day could finally come, but it had. She knew Woody had always had reservations about them all staying together – after all, their luck was bound to run out sometime - but he'd always hidden it from her. Buzz had never voiced an opinion either way, continuing to be strong and silent throughout every difficulty. Now, their worse fear had come true. They'd been separated, forever.

Jessie shifted slightly, and her gaze fell on something imprinted on the window. She blinked, peering closer. It appeared to be a handprint on the glass. She frowned. How had that gotten there?

She put her own hand up to it, touching the outline, and noticed the size of the print was larger than her own hand. The fingers were thicker, the ends rounded, the palm square and flat.

She'd know that print anywhere, she thought, with a little smile gracing her features.

Maybe Buzz wasn't completely gone after all.


	7. Little Family

**Sorry for the delay in updates (about three weeks, my bad!) Have had a very hectic few weeks in my personal life, and what with Xmas & New Year upcoming, things show no signs of slowing down. I will attempt to write and post sporadically over the next few weeks. **

**In other words, you havent got rid of me that easily! lol. **

**Love to all.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7 – Little Family**

Buzz lay in the box on the shelf. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't asleep. In fact he'd woken up some time ago, unable to get comfortable. He'd glanced across to Woody at the point he'd woken up, noticing that both the cowboy and Bullseye were still dreaming.

With a sigh reserved for his own ears, Buzz opened his eyes again at long last, and leaned over the side of the box, noticing that Amanda was just beginning to stir. He ducked back out of view as the young woman sleepily roused herself, and after many long minutes padded out of the bedroom door, heading along the hall.

As he sat, waiting for Amanda to return, Buzz realised the coast was clear. If he so wished to escape, he could. Amanda would never see him. But he couldn't leave Woody.

But what if he was to return to fetch Woody? Where should he go to seek assistance? Everyone else was pretty much separated. Only one person could have the guts to rescue Woody from Amanda's room. Not that they needed rescuing…..but if they were to be together again.

_Jessie._

He suddenly knew - as Amanda walked back into the room to get dressed - what he was going to do.

* * *

Jessie roused herself sleepily from the position she lay in against the pillow on the bed. It had been many hours she'd spent on the windowsill, before eventually retreating back to the bed again. Once back settled on the soft mattress, she'd fallen fast asleep against the pillow within moments, worn out from her long day.

As she glanced around cautiously at the room, she noticed with relief that the surroundings were free of any human life. Stretching a little, the cowgirl pulled herself to her feet and started to walk across the bed, gazing up at the window in the slanting wall of the room. Above her the blue sky was obscured partly by the blue blind hanging in the window, and a crystal pendant dream-catcher sparkled as the sun caught the prisms in it.

Jessie's eyes followed the rainbow beams that fell on the floor, turning to study the room properly. It seemed to be a normal room, owned by a normal young woman. Everything was in order, save for some clothes strewn on a nearby chair messily, and a few DVDs scattered on the floor by the television. Jessie took a little step forward, glancing back over to the back window, noting that in the daylight she couldn't see the handprint on the glass anymore. She sighed.

She was brought out of her trance by a little nudge on her shoulder, and startled, the cowgirl whipped around. But there was nothing there. Jessie scratched her head in confusion, scanning the area in front of her. All that she could see was a vast expanse of duvet. The tap on her shoulder came again, followed by a whinnying giggle.

Jessie's heart leapt. It sounded just like Bullseye when he laughed at something Woody did. She spun around again, but to her confusion and disappointment, still nothing met her eye.

She was about to lose her mind when something appeared in her peripheral vision. "Hi."

Jessie turned her head and to her surprise found herself eye to eye with a small turquoise horse with wings.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, noticing the horse had little yellow wings sprouting from either side of its flank.

"Who're you?" The horse asked, fluttering it's wings.

"I'm Jessie." Jessie looked up at the flying horse, admiring the horse openly.

"Hey. I'm Firefly. I'm a Little Pony." The horse declared proudly. "Sorry about all that. I just love to play pranks on other toys."

"It's okay. No harm done. You did get me quite confused though," Jessie said with a smile.

"So what are you doing here?" Firefly asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Jessie responded, with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I only know I'm here for a Lizzie."

"You're another of Lizzie's projects, aren't you?" Firefly asked.

"Project? No. I'm here to be given to a Lizzie, but I don't know anything about a project."

"Given to a Lizzie?" Firefly giggled. "You're with Lizzie."

"I cant be. Lizzie's supposed to be a little girl."

"No she isn't." Firefly retorted. "Lizzie is the girl who lives in this room. I watched her fix you up. It's her pastime. She gets the skill from her Dad."

Jessie blinked. "That older girl is my new owner?"

"Yup." Firefly giggled again. "You'll love it here. She looks after all her toys and stuff really well."

"But Lizzie's a young woman! She wont keep me around forever. I'm a toy."

"Oh boy," Firefly murmured, settling on the duvet next to Jessie's feet at long last. "You haven't had a easy time of it, have you?"

"No." Jessie whispered. "All my friends are gone and my old owners didn't want me anymore, in the end."

"Well, I'll be your new friend," Firefly said without a pause, "I miss my friends too. They're in storage in the garage."

Jessie winced at the word 'storage', but Firefly didn't notice.

"I've been with Lizzie ever since her mother brought me for her some fifteen years ago, as well as the Little Pony Beauty Boutique. A lot of the other Little Pony stuff she got rid of with her Barbie's some time ago, but some of us made it through. She only pulled me out of the box about a year ago because she always loved playing with me the most. I've sat on the nightstand since, with the others."

The little horse gestured to the nightstand, where Jessie noticed there were three little bears, one little donkey, and a little plush rabbit sitting there.

"That's Bertie, Keyring, Blush, Lavender and Donkey." Firefly said, and a couple of the little bears waved. "Bertie was a toy in a cracker one year, Keyring was a keyring bear that Lizzie's mom brought for her, Blush is a promotional Children In Need teddy, Lavender is a stuffed perfume bunny, and Donkey is a little something Lizzie picked up in Switzerland on holiday two years ago."

Jessie nodded. Firefly turned back to her with a little nudge to the cowgirls shoulder again. "Welcome to our little family. With emphasis on the little."

* * *

"Buzz!"

The spacetoy turned. Woody was standing behind him. Buzz had literally just climbed out of the box, onto the shelf.

"Where the heck are you going?" the cowboy asked, folding his arms.

Buzz sighed. He'd been hoping Woody wouldn't stir, so that he could make his way out of the room quietly and go back to see Jessie.

"I'm going to…..shut the window. It's too cold for me to rest."

Woody pointed at the window. "It's already closed, Buzz. Try again."

Buzz glanced and cursed to himself. The window was indeed, closed.

"You were going to try sneaking out, weren't you? After what I said to you about being seen last night. You're determined to give the game away, aren't you?" Woody chided his friend.

Buzz dropped his head. "I'm sorry Woody. I can't get Jessie out of my head. I have to see her again."

Woody shook his head sadly. "Buzz, believe me, I know what it's like to lose someone. And I'd be wrong to stand in your way."

"You wouldn't stop me?" Buzz said in astonishment.

"No." Woody said softly. "I've always wanted to see Jessie happy, and I noticed over the years that she was never happier than when she was near to you. You two were made for each other."

There was a silence as Buzz digested this.

"So…?" The spacetoy said at long last, with another glance at the window.

Woody sighed. "Go get her, pardner."


	8. Found Out

**Author Note: So I was going through some files the other day, and I came across this fiction again. The below chapter was mostly written, I just added the dialogue to flesh it out. Still a bit short but it's an update. **

**Then I looked through and noticed I havent written TS fics in several months...maybe I should get back on that!?**

**Anyway, enjoy :) **

* * *

**Chapter Eight – Found Out**

It was so dark on the street outside the house, where the little girl that had taken Jessie for keeps lived. Buzz was therefore glad of his green glow, along with the solar powered garden lights dotted around the back lawn. Moving as stealthily as possible - so as to hide from anyone peeking out of the lower ground windows - he made it to the back porch.

The light from the top window was out, which was a good sign. Spotting the nearby drainpipe, Buzz started to climb. It felt forever until he reached the window where he had last seen his beloved cowgirl.

He wondered if she would even be there, now the older girl had fixed her up. He peeked through the glass, shielding his eyes, peering into the blackness. He spied the bed at last, and the girl from earlier lay under covers there, fast asleep. Her brown hair fanned out, covering the pillow, her breathing steady. At that point the wind blew slightly and Buzz was knocked off kilter a little, falling against the propped open side window. He now noticed it was wide open, granting him access to the room.

Hesitating again, he pushed aside the net curtain and placed one foot on the inner windowsill. Grasping the edge of the sash, he eased himself fully into the room. Blackness enveloped him until his soft green glow once again took over. From the window he dropped onto a nearby chair, then directly to the floor. He was working out where to start looking when the too familiar voice met his ears.

"Buzz?"

He glanced up to see Jessie, peering over at him from the top of the dresser. Joy flooded the spacetoy's heart as she scaled down the dresser to meet him, using the draw handles much like the rungs on a abseiler's wall.

She flung herself at him as he met her in the middle of the room, just shy of the bed. He held her, knocking off her hat as he stroked her hair, her face, tilting her chin up so he could kiss her fully on the lips.

* * *

She melted against him. Her Buzz had come to find her, her hero had wrapped his arms securely around her and she didn't feel afraid any longer. Then suddenly…

"Achoo!"

They broke apart and Jessie's head snapped round in the direction of the bed. The covers moved a little, a blanket sliding as the girl above them stirred restlessly. Thankfully after a few moments everything was still again, placing them out of danger.

"You're dusty," Jessie whispered, brushing herself off a little and glancing at Buzz. "You're making me sneeze."

"Sorry," Buzz whispered back. "I kind of forgot, what with everything else going on." He paused. "At least I found you before you got taken to Lizzie."

Jessie giggled. "Buzz. I'm with Lizzie." She quickly filled him in with what the Little Pony had told her, watching his face cloud with confusion.

"But she's…" Buzz motioned up to the bed, failing to find the words, "she's…"

"As old as Andy when he abandoned us. And a little older than Emily when she left me," Jessie guessed what he was thinking almost immediately.

"But she fixed you! We don't know anyone her age who would do such a thing for a neglected toy."

Jessie was silent for a moment. "Maybe she just loves toys."

"Children love toys, Jessie. This girl has to be close to a young woman!" Buzz was rapidly forgetting to keep his voice down by now.

Jessie cringed a little at his harsh words. "But she's been good to me Buzz. You should see the other toys here, there are a few she's donated over the years but her things are in lovely condition, almost pristine."

"And that doesn't worry you? It doesn't strike you as a little bit unusual?" Buzz snapped. "How do you know she isn't fixing you up to sell on?"

Jessie was gobsmacked, and about to retort when she was was cut off by something looming above them, and a female voice which spoke.

"So I'm stupidly tidy and I care about my things. What's the problem?"

Buzz and Jessie looked up and froze. For sitting up in bed, regarding them in discussion, was Lizzie herself.


	9. Worthless Alone

**Crap. It's been about 5-6 months since I updated this! Apologies for the delay. Real life keeps getting in the way!**

* * *

**Chapter Nine – Worthless Alone**

Both toys froze on the spot. There was an elongated silence in which they both stared at Lizzie, and she stared back at them.

"Now I know," Lizzie began, "That I don't own a Buzz Lightyear, let alone a very dusty, dirty one." She reached down and pressed the purple button on the side of Buzz's helmet. The helmet swished shut, and a cloud of dust emitted from Buzz's direction, making Jessie cough and take a step back.

Lizzie raised her eyebrows and sat back, surveying the two toys.

"Wait." Jessie looked up at her new owner with surprise. "You catch two toys in the middle of a conversation, when you know toys aren't supposed to move and talk independently - and the first thing you realise is that Buzz is dusty?"

Lizzie shrugged. "Not the first time I've had a conversation with a toy."

Buzz swished his helmet back open, another cloud of dust emitting from him again, and another cough or two emitting from his girlfriend beside him. "It's not?" He stared up at the young woman on the bed. She was much, much taller than him, but curled up under her blankets like that she looked surprisingly small. She had bright green eyes, just like Jessie's, and her almost raven hair tumbled around her shoulders.

"Not when you work in your old man's shop and see it most days, it isn't," Lizzie said matter of factly.

"Shop?" Jessie felt it safe to step back near to Buzz, tilting her head to one side.

"Sure. My old man, he works in antiques everyday. Got a few toys there, they come to life in the shop. First time I caught them was when Dad was working late one night – fixing some clock or whatever."

Jessie and Buzz regarded each other for a moment, then looked back at Lizzie.

"So….these antique toys," Jessie started.

"Oh, not necessarily antiques, all of them. Some are rare. Some I just like," Lizzie grinned. She gestured around her room at the various keepsakes and knick knacks littering every surface.

"So the toys in your room?"

"Some I keep. You wouldn't believe the rare stuff my Dad gets through the shop. He taught me how to fix and repair stuff."

Jessie fingered the brand new elastic holding her hat on. "You fixed me…" she started again.

"Sure I did. That yard sale. Hoo boy, you guys were in some state apparently, especially according to the state you were in, little miss."

Lizzie reached down and grasped Buzz firmly around the middle, lifting him up to her level. "Can't have you looking like that with your little friend here looking so well besides you." Lizzie commented as she grabbed a towel from her laundry basket and set Buzz down on it. "Word has it that Amanda has big plans for you, little guy."

"What do you mean, big plans?" Buzz asked, nervously, looking down at Jessie on the floor below them. The cowgirl doll had stepped closer to the bed, looking up with wistful eyes at them both.

"Didn't you know? You're all supposed to be gifts. You, the cowgirl, and whoever else she picked up at that sale." Lizzie said, retrieving a package of wipes and some cotton buds, along with a small bottle. She settled down next to Buzz on the bed.

She paused and then laughed, making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "Well this is going to be unusual. I've never cleaned an "awake, living" toy before."

Buzz fidgeted, and stole another glance at Jessie. "Nothing to worry about," Lizzie said, not realising her words were having an adverse effect on both toys. "I'm just going to clean you up some." She took the corner of the towel, flipped Buzz's helmet shut again, and began her work.

oOoOo

Half an hour later, Buzz was sparkling clean. His helmet now no longer made a cloud of dust when it was opened and closed. His buttons had been wiped clean, including the crevices surrounding them. His breast plate was back to green and grey instead of a dirty brown. His joints had been oiled with a special gel and they moved like they should. The black part around his middle no longer harboured the grime and filth. Lizzie had even found a suitable replacement sticker to put inside the little flip compartment on his left arm, where Buzz himself had peeled off the original all those years ago in Sid's room.

He stood up and Jessie, who had long since climbed up onto the bed, threw herself on him in glee. "Buzz!" She squealed, as he caught her. "You look….I mean you smell amazing!" She laughed as he hugged her, and then released her to look down at himself.

"Not a bad job at all…" He started, and looked up at Lizzie's amused face. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lizzie started to put her cleaning implements away and then turned back to the two toys, who by now were resuming their hug.

"Question."

"What's that?" Buzz asked, looking up at the girl who was so kind to him and his beloved Jessie.

"Is there something going on here I should know about." Lizzie grinned.

"How do you mean?" Buzz blushed.

"I mean…you two. I never saw such an unusual…friendship."

"Oh." Buzz blushed deeper and Lizzie laughed.

"That's a yes, then."

Buzz nodded, as Lizzie finished her tidying and slid back under the covers. She regarded them for a moment.

"So who else did Amanda buy at this yard sale?"

"Two of our friends. One of them was Jessie's brother." Buzz said softly and Jessie gasped, remembering.

"Woody."

"Woody?" Lizzie blinked for a moment. She sat up suddenly. "Wait. I knew I had seen you someplace." She looked Jessie over, then jumped out of the bed and ran across to her bookcase, rooting through and pulling out a book from the back. She carried it back over, a big, brown covered, heavy hardback, which she sat on her lap and opened it. Curious, Buzz and Jessie wandered over to stare over at Lizzie's lap.

Lizzie flipped several pages, searching for something, and then ran her finger down the page. "Here." She said, showing the page to the surprised toys, who read slowly what the paragraph said.

_Woody's round up Dolls_

_1950's production. Rare. Set comprises Woody Sheriff, Jessie Cowgirl, Bullseye Steed, Pete Prospector. Woody and Jessie have pull strings with voice activated boxes. Value varied on condition. Single pieces worthless._

Jessie's eyes grew round as Buzz slipped an arm around her for comfort.

"You actually know the whereabouts of a Woody doll?" Lizzie said, softly. "I've never even seen one."

Jessie nodded slowly. She'd always needed Woody, to be part of a complete set, but to see it in black and white that she was worthless alone…..she looked up at Buzz.

"We have to go back for him."


	10. Where's Buzz?

**Chapter 10 – Where's Buzz?**

_Where was he?_

Woody glanced at the clock on Amanda's nightstand, a sleeping Bullseye sitting beside him, his only company since Buzz had left a few hours earlier. At least he hadn't disappeared immediately after Woody had caught him that morning. He'd stayed for a few hours, knowing that Woody needed him just as much as he needed Jessie.

Besides, if he was going to rescue Jessie, it would be better done under the cover of night time, than in broad daylight, they had agreed.

But now, almost three hours after Buzz had scaled down off the shelf and vanished from sight again, Woody wasn't that worried. But he was fidgeting, a sure sign that he had waited long enough. He linked his fingers together, then unlinked them again. Tapped them together. Waited. Looked at the window, to the clock, to the sleeping Amanda below him, and back to the clock. All this only killed two minutes maximum.

Woody sighed. He couldn't sleep while Buzz was gone, and so he had a feeling this was going to be a extremely long night.

* * *

"But we have to, Buzz," Jessie insisted, following Buzz as he walked across the bed.

They had been sitting up with Lizzie for a few hours, discussing how they were going back to get Woody, poring over the antique book at the pictures of the Roundup quartet. But Buzz was having none of a certain part of '_Operation Return To Get Woody' - _ and it showed.

He had intended to stomp away from Jessie when he got up finally, but mattresses aren't built for stomping; he simply bounced a bit harder as he walked, which didn't really give the desired effect overall.

"I said no, Jessie. _We_ don't have to do anything. You are staying put, where I know you're safe." Buzz turned around at last to face his flame haired girlfriend.

"Since when did I become the fragile little miss you need to look after?" Jessie huffed, folding her arms.

"I don't mean it like that….look. Jessie. I don't want to take you back there and risk you being found. You're better off here. Lizzie will keep you safe. If you get caught by Amanda she's going to know something's up. I need to go back alone."

"But I don't want to leave you," Jessie whispered, stepping closer to Buzz and wrapping her arms around him.

"Hey. None of that," Buzz looked down at Jessie, brushing back a strand of yarn.

There was a wistful sigh from above. Both toys looked up, to see Lizzie watching them, a smile on her face. "Don't mind me. I'm a romantic," she confided, as Jessie and Buzz jumped apart with guilty looks on their faces.

* * *

_Seriously Buzz?_

Woody thought from his place on the shelf. It was dawn, he could see the beginnings of the light filtering through the curtains that obscured the window from view. The clock on the nightstand read 5.11am now.

He was flat out worried now. Buzz only went to get Jessie. All sorts of scenarios raced through his mind.

Maybe a car ran over him, broke his arm like at Sid's.

Maybe he lost his way to Lizzie's house.

Maybe there was a dog or some other creature that had attacked him in a garden.

Maybe he got caught getting into the house.

Maybe he was at the house, and couldn't get out.

Maybe, if Jessie had left to be taken to Lizzie, he had followed the girl who had fixed her and didn't know how to get back.

Woody sighed and glanced back at the clock on the nightstand. _5.13am._

Ugh.

* * *

"Here, you guys settle down here." Lizzie offered kindly. "I'm going back to sleep. So feel free to…you know, talk or whatever it is you were doing." She smiled sleepily and padded back quietly, the creak of the bedsprings sounding as she settled back down. "Goodnight," she called in a hushed voice, and then silence settled.

Buzz looked at Jessie, and Jessie looked at Buzz. A soft blush broke over the cowgirls face. "After you," she whispered shyly, gesturing down. In front of them was an old cushion, slightly frilled around the edges. It had a pattern of a little girl with a watering can on it, with a little puppy sitting there watching her tending to a plant.

"I don't know." Buzz rubbed the back of his neck. "I feel uncomfortable lying on something so innocent."

Jessie laughed, reaching down and flipping the cushion over to the other side, which was plain white. "Now?"

"Now," Buzz smiled, sitting down on the edge of the cushion and swinging his legs around. He lay down, and Jessie grabbed the swatch of cotton fabric Lizzie had left nearby, before snuggling down next to him and pulling the cover over them. She laid her head on Buzz's chest, and he wrapped a arm around under her.

"So…Woody?" Jessie murmured sleepily.

"I'll go back for him – alone - tomorrow evening," Buzz mumbled, "There's no way I'm leaving you right now…too comfy…"

There was no more argument from Jessie. Within moments, the two of them were fast asleep.


	11. Unconditional Love

**Chapter 11 - Unconditional Love**

He must have fallen into a light doze, for when Woody came around again, the digital clock on the nightstand read 9.47am. Glancing around, the cowboy noticed three things – firstly that Bullseye was awake, but still had his head on his folded hooves. Secondly, the bed below him was empty, and there was no sign of the girl Amanda. And thirdly, Buzz was still missing.

Panic set into Woody, and not even Bullseye's sudden good morning lick could do anything to change that. He petted the steed.

"Where could he be?" He wondered aloud, and Bullseye regarded his master for a moment before giving the cowboy another lick. Woody wiped his cheek from all the slobber and frowned again. Something was very definitely wrong.

* * *

Buzz rolled over and fidgeted, brushing something out of his face. He opened his eyes lazily and the first thing he saw were strands of Jessie's hair, which had come un-tucked from her now ponytail styled hair. They wafted in front of Buzz's face, tickling his nose. He brushed the hair off his face with a sigh, drinking in his girlfriend's face in the morning light seeping through the blue covered window, just above where they lay together.

Her big eyes were closed, her little nose wrinkled in sleep, and her freckles – why had he never noticed her freckles? - dotted just over the bridge of her nose. They were slightly darker than her pale skin, and her lashes, which were darker still, contrasted even more against the paleness. Buzz marvelled at her features for a few minutes more before the lashes twitched and her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Hey…" she murmured, snuggling into the space toy's arms. "Mornin'."

"Morning." Buzz felt like his heart might burst.

"It's so cosy here." Jessie mumbled.

"I know." Buzz murmured back.

"I don't want to get up."

"We don't have to." Buzz grinned, and Jessie lifted her head.

"True…" she smirked naughtily, reaching up to place both her hands on his cheeks lightly. Her lips closed the remaining distance between them, and in the morning light, they kissed softly. Buzz's arms, now wrapping around her slim waist, pulled her yet closer, almost crushing the soft stuffing of the cowgirl doll against his plastic chest.

"I thought I was going to lose you," He murmured, as they broke apart for a few moments to catch their breath.

"Me too," Jessie responded, "I can't believe you're here." She closed the distance between them again, her kisses more urgent this time.

Buzz didn't stop her. The room was quiet, and whether Lizzie was sleeping or not even in the room, he didn't care. The feel of Jessie in his arms was enough to make him throw caution to the wind this once.

He opened his eyes, and was about to speak when something caught his eye and he froze. Jessie was trailing kisses down his neck and didn't notice him go tense.

"Buzz," she murmured, and only when he didn't respond did she look up. "Buzz?" She followed his gaze and in doing so had to turn over. She almost shrieked aloud when she realised they had a audience in the form of Firefly, the little pony Jessie had met the day previous.

"Good mornin' lovebirds," Firefly shrilled prettily. "Sorry to interrupt, Jessie, but I thought your new friend here might like a tour?"

"Oh….right," Jessie's cheeks coloured the same as her hair as she rolled away from Buzz. "Yeah, a tour sounds good, I haven't seen the whole place yet," she jabbered, her anxiety at being caught at getting up to no good overtaking her.

She glanced around at Buzz, who had propped his head up on one arm, still half covered with the blanket. He was evidently posing, just for her, and she shot him a look that said everything her mouth couldn't at that moment.

She turned back to Firefly. "Give us a minute, will you?"

* * *

The minutes ticked by longer and longer as Woody paced the bed. He was alone in this room with Bullseye. Amanda did not seem to be the sort that kept toys in vast quantities for giving away, like Andy had done. She did not seem to have any type of storage at all for toys, and the room was cheaply, although tastefully, decorated.

She did, however, seem to have a vast quantity of reading material. In fact, there was a huge bookcase to one side of the room, filled with book after novel after book. Hardbacks, paperbacks, some in good condition, others lovingly thumbed, dog eared pages, some torn and battered. They piled and sat and lay everywhere, in columns and rows and heaps.

The shelves that Woody and the others had been sitting on contained miniature storage crates, which mostly seemed to house papers and other random objects that didn't have any immediate use. Trinkets were scattered on the desk next to the computer, along with a pot full of pens, pencils, and other stationery items.

The bed that Woody walked to and fro on whilst fretting was covered in a simple duvet with a beige cover, the two pillows with pink check patterned pillowcases. The mattress was hard and firm against Woody's boots as he muttered and paced yet more.

Bullseye's eyes followed him as Woody paced by once more. This time right to the window to check the surrounding paths and lanes outside. Nothing.

He glanced at the clock. _11.39am._

* * *

"It's almost noon," Firefly said with a smile. "Lizzie's mom goes out about that time every weekday for her volunteer work, and she's normally not back for several hours."

Jessie nodded and squeezed Buzz's hand. They had completed their tour of Lizzie's room, and now they were sitting together on the bed with Firefly chattering idly. The other toys from the nightstand had come down to join them, along with a very large caramel coloured teddy bear, a smaller yellow fluffy plush bunny, and two woollen knitted dolls.

There were other various toys playing on the floor nearby, but Jessie only had eyes for the larger dolls, who were very well dressed and had a entire assortment of knitted clothes for both the winter and the summer.

"Clare, do take off that frightful wool jacket," one doll was now saying to the other.

"Only if you brush your hair, Brighteyes," the other doll said gently. She was removing her blue wool jacket as she spoke, folding it onto her lap, and Jessie could make out the design of a snowman on the back of it.

Brighteyes sighed and blinked a bit. Her round black eyes were large in her small head, hence her given name. She and Clare exchanged a look before turning back to the assembled group, where the teddy bear was grouching away.

"I never saw such toys in my life." He was exclaiming to Buzz, who had flipped out his wings as a means of showing the teddy bear his purpose. "Back in my day, Lizzie got me as her first toy. Her christening present. She used to keep me in a big plastic box on the shelf, until the box cracked and got so dusty she threw it in the garbage." He shook his head again. "All these fancy gadgets you have, and I cant even growl!" He pressed his soft middle. "No button for that I'm afraid."

Jessie looked sad. "You can't growl?"

"No." the teddy bear said. "What good is a teddy bear like me without his growl?"

"Well, you obviously mean a lot to Lizzie or she wouldn't have kept you." Jessie pointed out. "Where we come from we're used to being got rid of."

"That's too bad," the yellow fluffy bunny murmured, and the lavender bunny from the nightstand nodded in agreement.

"Primrose is right. It's such a shame you two don't know unconditional love like we have!"

"Unconditional….love?" Jessie squeaked. "Lizzie?"

"Yes. Well, if Ted here has been with her since just after birth, isn't that some indication?"

"She never throws any toys away. They never go in the bin." Primrose said. "If she can't fix them, they become either part of her room, or part of a display in and around her Dad's shop."

"Behind glass?" Buzz wondered aloud, fearing the worse. It sounded a bit like the museum in Japan, but Primrose shook her head, her big ears flopping around side to side.

"Nope. They sit on a shelf and they get looked at."

"Sounds awful." Ted exclaimed, "It was bad enough being stared at and staring out of a plastic box on a shelf for the best part of 20 years."

"You're 20 years old?" Jessie asked. Ted shook his head.

"Nearly 25."

"But that means….Lizzie…"

"Yes. She's a bit older than some of the others here have ever been used to. Some of us have been with Lizzie forever but others have been donated to Lizzie, sold to her father, you name it."

"It's kind of like a safe house for toys." Brighteyes said with a laugh. She rubbed one of her big black eyes with a beige plush hand and leaned down to look at Jessie closely. "What sort of doll are you?"

"I'm a cowgirl doll." Jessie said proudly. She reached around and grabbed her pull string and yanked it out. "YODEL LAY DE HOO!" her voice box proclaimed loudly and the toys all jumped, even Buzz, who was used to hearing Jessie's inners give off all sorts of weird exclamations.

"Shhh!" Firefly hissed, glancing at the clock.

Unfortunately the pull string wasn't all the way back in and continued merrily shouting away, "WE GOTTA GET THIS WAGON TRAIN A MOVING!" Jessie looked horrified as it kept going.

"RIDE LIKE THE WIND!" came next.

"Quick, shut it off!" Ted growled, as footsteps near the stairs tipped them off. The other toys all ran for their places, covering their ears.

"YEE HAW!" Jessie's voice box didn't know how to quit, and she groaned inwardly. Buzz hopped under the bed as the door opened, and Jessie slumped right where she was.

"Lizzie?" A shadow fell just inside the room, and a female voice called out. "I think one of your toys is making a noise. I can hear something."

"Really, Mom?" Lizzie appeared in the room. She walked a few steps in and her sharp eyes noticed Jessie on the bed, with her pull string just finishing retreating. She stifled a smile when she saw Buzz peeking out from under the bed.

"I'll have a look, Mom. I'm sure its nothing," she fibbed, waiting until the older woman was gone and out of earshot. Only then did she peek under the bed.

"Buzz Lightyear, I presume." She made eye contact with the space toy. "What on earth were you and Jessie playing at, huh?" She asked, with a wink.


	12. Sweet Spaceman

**Chapter 12 – Sweet Spaceman**

"I have to go. I'm sure Woody will be wondering what's happened to me." Buzz murmured into Jessie's hair.

It was early afternoon after their little tour around Lizzie's house, and Buzz had decided – against his own better judgement – to leave Jessie's side at last to go and fetch Woody and Bullseye. They were saying goodbye on the windowsill of Lizzie's room. She was minding her own business, and had told the other toys to do the same. She seemed to realise the nature of their intimacy and gave the privacy she would have given anyone else in their position, human or otherwise.

"Right now?" Jessie asked sadly. Her head was lying on his shoulder, her arms around his neck.

"You know I'll be back for you." Buzz whispered. "I said to Woody I needed to see you, to make sure you were okay. But I have to get Woody and Bullseye out of Amanda's and bring him here so we can all be together."

Jessie nodded, pulling back. "I understand." She dropped her gaze, and Buzz lifted her chin with a finger.

"Don't be sad. I'll be back before you know it."

"I know you will." Jessie suddenly threw her arms back around him. "I miss you already. But…." She pulled back a second time and eyed Buzz. "Wont Amanda be a bit mystified if she sees you all clean?"

Buzz glanced down. His whole body glistened where Lizzie had cleaned him the night before. "Heh. I guess she will. I don't think Lizzie realised I would be leaving again."

There was a movement from behind them as Lizzie shifted to look over her shoulder. "Did I hear my name?"

"Oh!" Jessie whipped around to look at the young woman. "We were just saying….Buzz is all clean; he was dirty before and he has to go back to Amanda's now….."

"Ah. I see." Lizzie agreed, following Jessie's train of thought even though she hadn't been listening in. "She'll be suspicious, you think? Well, Buzz, use some of the soil from the flowerbed outside if you like. It hasn't rained in a while so it should be quite dry. It'll be darker, but it'll give the effect of dust."

Buzz nodded, giving Lizzie a little salute of thanks, which she returned with a grin before going back to what she was doing. He turned back to Jessie.

"So. "I…uh…should go." Buzz looked awkward as he took both of her hands in his. They gazed at each other for another long moment before Jessie leaned in. Her kiss dropped onto his cheek as she whispered in his ear.

"Bye, my sweet spaceman."

* * *

"There you are!" Woody exclaimed as Buzz hopped in the window later that afternoon. "What on earth were you up to?" He grimaced, seeing the dirt all over Buzz. He looked ten times worse than when he left. "And what is that all over you?"

"Oh, it's soil from the garden." Buzz brushed himself off a little and sneezed.

"Like a little camouflage is going to help anything." Woody snorted derisively and glanced about behind Buzz, then walked to the open window and peered out. He turned back to look at the spaceman.

"Where's Jessie? I thought you were going to get her out of that house before Lizzie got hold of her."

"No…Woody, I've come back to get _you_." Buzz said brightly. "I saw Jessie, Woody. I spoke to her, and I held her, and she's fine. Lizzie took…"

"Lizzie? You saw Lizzie?!" Woody asked, "Lizzie took Jessie out of that house?" '_It would explain why Buzz was gone so long_,' he thought.

"No…Woody." Buzz sighed and rubbed a hand over his cheek to wipe some of the dirt from it. "Lizzie is that girl we saw, the one who was cleaning and fixing Jessie up. Lizzie's the one taking care of her."

"But….she's so…" Woody began, thinking of the older girl they had seen. "She must be close to mid twenties."

"Yes, but she's nice." Buzz commented. Woody raised a brow.

"Buzz Lightyear. What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing." Buzz stumbled. "I just…she might have caught me and Jessie talking, that's all…."

"What?!" Woody hollered, and then stopped. Both of them tensed, waiting for an indication that they might have been heard by Amanda or anyone else in the vicinity of the house.

Nothing stirred. Woody looked back at Buzz. "You mean to tell me you and Jessie got caught outside of toy mode?"

Buzz nodded. "Y…yeah…"

"Are you crazy? You know we're not supposed to break that law."

"Why not? You did, once." Buzz frowned, and Woody recounted the run in with Sid.

"That was an extreme circumstance. You, on the other hand….oh, why do I even bother?!" Woody muttered loudly enough for Buzz to hear.

"Well, she caught us. And she was fine with it, unlike Sid!"

"That's not the point. You know our non-toy selves aren't supposed to be shown."

"But she's seen other toys come to life." Buzz argued.

"I don't car-wait…what?" Woody was flabbergasted, even if it was only for two seconds.

"She told us that the ones in her Dad's antique shop come to life, and the ones in her room do to, whether or not she's even there." Buzz explained.

"And she's….fine with it?" Woody furrowed his brow. He'd never heard of such a thing.

"She seems to be really well adjusted to it." Buzz agreed.

Woody pushed his hat back and folded his arms sternly. "That is not the point, Buzz, and you know it. You've left Jessie alone with that girl? How do you know she's not going to sell her while you're gone?"

"She w-w-wouldn't." Buzz faltered, although he remembered Lizzie with the big book on her lap the night before, looking up the Woody's Roundup Gang before declaring them rare and sought after.

"I only hope you're right, Buzz. Because if you've put Jessie in danger…" Woody began, just as footsteps in the hallway started up.

"Quick!" Woody hissed. "Back up on the shelf!"

* * *

Lizzie swung around on the bed and looked over at the windowsill. Jessie stood there, her hand on the pane as she pressed her face up to the glass.

"Jessie?" Lizzie asked. The poor doll looked so sad, she thought to herself.

"Yeah?"

"I was going to go and get some ice cream. Since Mom's out….maybe you want to join me? And perhaps we can watch a movie, too?"

Jessie turned, a pretty smile gracing her features. "I'd like that." She glanced over her shoulder at the open window. "But only for a couple of hours. Buzz will be back soon."

* * *

Meanwhile at Amanda's, the three toys had managed to scramble into place in time, just as the bedroom door opened and Amanda hurried in. She hopped up on the bed and reached for the three toys on the shelf, setting them on the bed before sitting down besides them.

She mused for a moment, readjusting Woody's hat, standing Bullseye upright on all four hooves, and then touching Buzz's laser button briefly. As it fired the red beam, she smiled to herself before picking Woody up in one hand and Bullseye in the other.

"You'll do just fine, "Amanda commented, with a glance at Buzz. She got back up on the bed, replacing Woody and Bullseye on the shelf. She hopped down, grabbed hold of Buzz, and walked from the room.

Woody came out of toy mode as Amanda disappeared with his friend. _Where was she taking Buzz?_

He didn't have to wonder for long. Half an hour later, from the window, he saw Amanda go out to her car and climb into the driver's side. On the passenger seat she laid a bright navy blue box, with a large yellow ribbon around it. Woody pressed his hand to the window. There was only one thing that could be in there.

_Buzz._


	13. Here Soon

**Chapter 13 – Here Soon**

"He'll be here soon." Jessie thought eagerly.

It was two weeks since Buzz had left her side, and she had sat on the end of the bed in Lizzie's room everyday, waiting and watching the window. She curled her knees up into her chest and stared at the azure sky, with the soft clouds floating by on the breeze. It was a reasonable sort of day, and Jessie's eyes were bright with hope.

From the nightstand, a pair of eyes watched the cowgirl kindly, as they had done every morning and every evening since the space toy's departure.

"Jessie?"

"Firefly?" Jessie never took her eyes off the sill and the open window.

"What are you doing today?" The toy pony whinnied.

"Why do you ask?"

"I thought you might like to play. We could do something f-"

"Oh no, Firefly, not today." Jessie finally took her eyes off the window long enough to glance across. "I have to wait for Buzz, remember?"

"You know, the other toys say that's all you do."

"What's all I do?"

"You wait and watch for that action figure guy to come back."

Jessie huffed in an annoyed fashion. "He's a_ space ranger_."

"Either way, you've been sitting there for days on end."

"So? He'll be here soon."

Firefly cast a sorrowful glance at the cowgirl, and then looked at Ted, who was sitting on the top of the wicker toy chest not too far away.

"It's been two weeks, Jessie." The bear intoned, and Jessie nodded.

"I know. Not much longer to wait."

* * *

_The scent of the box stifled him. He was trapped, and had been for a long time; although he didn't know how long exactly. Owing to the dark colour of the box surrounding him, the dark pressed in on him more than it probably should have done, and he was constantly thankful for his glow in the dark ability. It was the only tool he possessed to keep him sane; there was nothing else to do but glow._

_He longed to stretch his wings out, but he couldn't. He had tried to wrestle around, but it was impossible to roll anywhere, and if he dislodged the box he might fall, and onto what he didn't know. So he stayed put, on his back, and waited. Wondering where he had ended up._

_Of course, it didn't go without saying that he didn't think of her. Every other minute she was there, invading his thought process.. Most of all, he remembered her words to him in the car, right back when they had first left the yard sale – he could only guess it had been many weeks ago now - and they haunted him._

_"Sometimes you don't get that chance…"_

_He thanked his lucky stars that he and Jessie __**had **__gotten the chance to say goodbye._

* * *

Lizzie wandered upstairs to her room. She pulled back the covers before realising Jessie was not in her usual place at the end of the bed. That was strange - she had been every day and every evening now for as long as Lizzie cared to remember.

"Jessie?" She asked the room, looking around wildly for the doll. She cast a glance at the nightstand, where Firefly came to life and indicated in the direction of the window with the tip of her wing. Turning, Lizzie gave a wan smile. There, curled up in a ball against the windowpane, was the redheaded cowgirl.

"He's not here yet then?" Lizzie asked softly, pacing over to the window. Jessie looked up. Her eyes were red, and Lizzie realised with a start the doll had been crying. "Oh….goodness!" She whisked a tissue from the box on the dresser, and helped Jessie carefully dry her eyes. Jessie snuffled a little as Lizzie picked her up and cuddled her.

"Its been seven weeks, Lizzie!" Jessie sobbed miserably. "He could be anywhere, he could be hurt, or….broken...or worse…"

"There, there…" Lizzie soothed, placing Jessie on the bed and hopping up beside her. She drew the covers over them both and Jessie snuggled into the human girl for warmth. "I'm sure Buzz, being the superhero toy, will be, and is, absolutely fine."

"But why…why isn't he here?" Jessie sniffled. "He said he'd come back."

"And he will." Lizzie enthused. "He'll get here when you've all but given up, and surprise you, I bet."

"But he only went to fetch Woody." Jessie said, with a tremor in her voice.

"I only wish there was something I could do." Lizzie sighed. "But it would look a bit strange if I was to turn up at Amanda's and ask her to turn over the space toy and the cowboy doll to me."

"And my horse." Jessie added, remembering her precious Bullseye.

They lay in silence for a few moments before Lizzie asked a question that she had been wondering the answer to.

"How did you two meet?"

"Well…..my partner Woody, he kind of, rescued me." Jessie wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "We were going to go to a museum in Japan but….well, we decided to get out of there, when Buzz and some other toys came to look for him."

"We were owned by Andy, he was Buzz's first owner and mine was….P-P- I mean, E-E-Emily. But I became Andy's when Woody and Buzz rescued me and Bullseye, and we spent so many long happy years with him. Then we got donated to Bonnie who loved us all the same until she got older."

"You and Buzz stayed together all that time?"

"Yessirree…" Jessie whispered, fondly remembering. "He would never make a move on me before we got together, and I was a little shy." Before she could stop herself, Jessie had recounted the entire episode of her time with Buzz, beginning with the ten years she had been with Andy, the varying situations they found themselves in, their time at day-care, the horror of the incinerator, and finally Buzz's Spanish mode and subsequent time at Bonnie's, including their first kiss.

"And after Bonnie?" Lizzie asked with a faint smile on her lips at Jessie's openness.

"We went to a little girl called Amber," Jessie responded, softly.

"What was Amber like?" Lizzie shifted in the bed, watching the little doll talk with fascination.

"She was a wilful child – she was abused as a little 'un…but she kept us until she got older. I guess she just forgot about us, and we were neglected. She moved out to…Nebraska with her Mom. I was so excited about seeing the West; I didn't even think she'd abandon us. She cleared out her room, and put us out for that yard sale and Amanda picked us up…and here I am." Jessie explained, her thoughts running wild as she remembered.

"I see. So you used to dance with Buzz?" Lizzie couldn't hide her amusement at that particular early chapter of Jessie's story.

"Yeah. We did the Spanish Paso Doble..." Jessie giggled.

"He's a good dancer?"

"Yes." Jessie smiled at the memory of Buzz's arms around her when he'd twirled and dipped her.

"You know….I have a thought." Lizzie whispered sleepily. "You remember the film we watched last night? You could give him a surprise when he gets here."

"You mean…copy the moves from the dance? Lizzie…" Jessie yawned a little, "…I'm not as good as the lady in the movie."

"I don't know, Jessie," Lizzie responded, also with a yawn. "Anyone who can execute a Spanish dance can master what's going on in that. Why don't we try tomorrow…?"

"Mmm," Jessie mumbled, pulling the covers up to her chin. "I'd like that..."

"Okay…then..." Lizzie murmured, taking off Jessie's hat so the doll would be more comfortable. "Sleep well, Jessie."


	14. From Infinity

**Chapter 14 – From Infinity**

"Okay you guys. Be good while I'm out. Remember, Lawrence is coming to stay for the weekend, so he might want to play with some of you."

It was a week before Christmas, and Lizzie was on her way out to go and see relations of hers in the next town. She had been left home alone for a while; her parents having gone further north to visit more distant relatives, a journey that Lizzie had mentioned she had been glad to avoid.

At her parting words before she left the room, the toys on the bed started to talk amongst themselves excitedly. Jessie looked up at Firefly, who was circling happily just above her.

"Firefly? Who's Lawrence?"

"He's Lizzie's cousin." Firefly said, looking down with a whinny. "She only ever sees him around Christmas time."

"Christmas?" Jessie said, her tone wondering. "Is it really Christmas already?"

"Yep. Lawrence's parents always go south for Christmas to see family, but Lawrence stays here as the journey's too long for him to manage."

Jessie fell silent and sighed. "Well, I don't have anything to worry about. I doubt Lawrence will be very interested in me."

Firefly's wings drooped a little in sadness at Jessie's words, and could only watch as the little cowgirl pulled back the edge of the blanket and crawled underneath to hide.

* * *

_It was dark, and it panicked him. There was no light of any kind to be seen._

_Woody had no right to complain about being uncomfortable though – there was far more of Bullseye than there was of him. The steed was right there next to him, his four legs spread out in an unruly fashion._

_"Shh, boy," he murmured, petting the horse as it wriggled and gave a soft neigh. "We'll be out of here soon."_

* * *

"Lizzie's back!" Firefly announced from her position down the stairwell a few hours later. She flew back into the room. "Lawrence is here too, and he doesn't know we come out of toy mode, so everyone, places please!"

She whistled shrilly and the toys arranged themselves, jumping into the wicker chest. The nightstand toys lined up and flumped down into position, and Ted flopped on the bed just next to Jessie. Firefly glanced around; making sure everything was as it should be, before she too, took a spot on the nightstand and froze.

Jessie peeked out from under the blanket, watching the other toys go about things as normal and sighed, before she settled back against the pillow. In her toy mode, she heard the excited laughter of a little boy, and her heart leapt. She remembered Andy, and all the escapades he had gotten up to as a small child.

_Back when she had been with Buzz and Woody._

There were heavy running footsteps on the stairs, and Lawrence barrelled into the room. He was a small child of about four, and he was wearing jeans and a red tee shirt with an emblem of some kind printed on it that Jessie couldn't quite make out. He carried an oversized black backpack, and his hair, tousled from the outside elements, was black and curly - not too unlike Lizzie's colouring. He now shed the backpack onto the floor with a thud, glancing at the bed with a grin as he grabbed hold of Ted.

"Hi Ted!" He gave the plush bear an enormous cuddle and then swung around to face Lizzie. "Can we have a teddy bear's picnic in the garden?"

"In the winter?" Lizzie asked, raising a brow at the young boy, and Lawrence looked sad. Lizzie sighed, beaten already.

"Aw, okay, tell you what," The toys heard her compromise, "How about we have an INDOOR teddy bear picnic? I'm pretty sure we have a tablecloth that will be just right for it…"

Lawrence's face lit up. "Yeah! Can we have peanut butter and jelly?"

"Sandwiches?" Lizzie laughed a little. "Sure, kiddo. And we'll have popcorn too, how about that?"

"Awesome!" Lawrence declared. He kept a hold of Ted as he ran past Lizzie, out of the room, and back down the stairs.

Lizzie sighed to herself and leaned down to retrieve the backpack that the young boy had dropped on the floor. She laid the backpack on the bed, and turned to walk from the room. She happened to cast a glance back at Jessie, who was still lying on the bed. Her red hat was strewn to one side, and as Lizzie watched, the doll animated herself, but did not turn to look around at the window like she usually did.

Lizzie's heart ached for the toy cowgirl. _Could it be, _she wondered_, that Jessie had finally given up?_

* * *

"What is it?" Primrose asked. She hopped closer to the black material bag, her nose waffling curiously.

"It's just a backpack." Brighteyes aptly rolled her big black eyes at the toy bunny's question.

Firefly pushed her way to the front of the group. "I'll handle this. I'm good at talking to newcomers." She whinnied a little and flew over to hover in front of the backpack.

"Hello? Any toys in there? We wont hurt you. Please come out."

There was an audible silence and Primrose laughed shortly. "Ah, there's nothing in there. Probably just stuffed with colouring books and crayons or something. Lawrence has been into those forever."

Jessie sighed as she listened to the idle chatter coming from just over yonder from where she sat. She kicked her legs outside the blanket and stood up, straightening her clothes and casting a forlorn glance towards the others. No one saw her there in the background. She was alone, and she longed to be the centre of something again. She yearned for the days when she had been part of the group with the Potatoheads', Dolly, Buttercup, Rex, Trixie and all the others. But they were all long gone now, the group she had once thought of as her family, dissolved over the years.

_And now Woody, Bullseye and even her beloved Buzz Lightyear were gone too._

She sniffed a little and looked at the new collection of toys. Something about it reminded her of the times the other toys had used to cluster around Bonnie's backpack, like when Barbie and Ken paid visits to them. Painful memories welled up in her heart, and she needed to escape them. She turned to walk away, and it was then that the sound met her ears.

* * *

Lizzie turned to look through the kitchen door. The family room door was wide open, and with it's placement right opposite the kitchen, she could see straight through to where Lawrence was sitting on the check print tablecloth. He had one hand braced behind him, the other hand pushing a piece of peanut butter and jelly sandwich into his mouth. His eyes were glued onto the television, which was blaring some cartoon from it. Ted sat nearby, propped up against a chair, but was otherwise forgotten about as the programme played.

The young woman wondered for a moment how he had grown up so fast so suddenly. She watched him with the same fascination that he watched the television programme with, his black curly locks bobbing as he reached for another piece of sandwich to cram into his mouth.

She laughed softly to herself as she watched his boyish ways. Next to her, the microwave pinged, and she was brought out of her trance. "Lawrence," she called, "Popcorn's up!" It was the only thing that would take his attention off the television, she knew this well.

From the other room, she heard him cry out "Popcorn!" and when she looked around, he was tearing towards her with Ted tucked under his arm. She stifled her feelings, and smiled at the young boy.

* * *

She must be hearing things. Jessie turned around to confront the sound behind her, convinced her ears were playing tricks on her. But if that was the case, her eyes must also be in on the joke. Drawn to the sight in front of her, she was vaguely aware that her mouth, as confused as her brain and heart were, opened ever so slightly so she could whisper something.

"Buzz?"

His eyes locked onto her face. "Yes, Jessie. It's me."

She froze on the spot. She couldn't move, she couldn't talk, she couldn't make sense of anything. All that time she had spent dreaming of him returning to her, what she'd say, what she'd do – it all evaporated. It had to be a dream. He couldn't be here, it had been too long, he was supposed to have been broken or lost…..

"Jessie?"

She raised her head. He must have moved while she had zoned out. For he was standing right in front of her now, his blue irises meeting her green ones. She took a quarter-step back, blinking in confusion. There was a strange sensation going on in the back of her head, and she ignored it for a moment, lifting her hand.

Hesitating and still certain it wasn't real, she reached forward, her hand meeting the chest plate that she had so often, over the years, laid her head on when it came to bedtime, or even when she needed a nap. Her fingers quivered as she realised the plastic was firm under her touch. She slid her hand gently upwards, locating the ridge that began the large red button she had so often pushed over the first few years of being in Andy's room – back when Buzz had been too shy around her to speak his mind – and then more often than not stroked when they had been cuddled up together. Her fingers pressed down insistently on it, and suddenly the wings sprang open with a loud CHUNK.

His hand came to rest next to hers, their fingers touching as he pressed the red button again, just off to the left of centre. The wings instantly retracted and his hand closed around hers. His other hand now braced against her side as he pulled her into his arms.

_And she realised. This was real._

The sensation in the back of her head transferred to the very back of her eyes, and her eyelids flickered for a moment before she felt the purple tips of his fingers on her cheek.

"Shhh…"

In that instant she realised now he was wiping a tear from her cheek, and then another and another, as she broke down right there. Her hands, which had so hesitantly touched the space toy, now pulled back from his chest long enough for her to bring them up and fling them around his neck. His embrace on her tightened as she hugged him, the tears spilling freely down her cheeks.

"Buzz!"

The exclamation left her lips, and she forgot where she was. The room around her, the other toys staring at their reunion - it all vanished completely. One of his hands reached up, stroking the now ponytailed hair, weaving between the yarn strands. His other hand, nestled on the lower of her back, kept her braced upright as she stood in his arms. Her face was buried in his neck, her tears soaking into the plastic as her body racked with sobs.

"Jessie….." he whispered soothingly into her ear, still stroking her hair as he pushed her back a little off him. Knocked off kilter and still rife with emotion, she didn't see what was coming as his lips claimed hers for the first time in many months.

It was only supposed to be a gentle, affectionate kiss, but she wanted to welcome him in the way she thought she would – so much to Buzz's astonishment and pleasure, he felt Jessie's reciprocation overwhelm him totally. Her lips pressed furiously to his, her tears making the kiss taste salty and bittersweet at the same time.

Jessie pulled back, one hand coming to touch his cheek. "Buzz…." She swallowed, the lump rising in her throat, and tried again. "I…I thought you were..."

"Gone to infinity? Nah…." He smiled at her, still holding her tightly. "Takes a lot to keep me from you, Jess. You know that."


	15. Here?

_For all readers: this story has now had a rating change. If you're offended by M rated fiction, please dont read any further. _

* * *

**Chapter 15 – Here?**

"Where are we going?" Jessie asked, as Buzz tugged her across the room and away from the other toys. They had all gone back to their various activities, having witnessed the tearful, emotional reunion between the two newcomers to the room.

They stopped just short of the bookcase, and Buzz pushed Jessie gently down onto the floor. "Don't worry about that. Just let me do this one thing," he whispered, bracing his hands against her shoulders as he knelt down behind her.

It felt like the beginning of a massage, and Jessie sat there a little nervous, closing her eyes and expecting to feel his firm fingers working down over her back and pull string. But instead, she felt Buzz tug on the ribbon at the top of her ponytail. Her hands shot up just in time to feel her hair tumble loose.

"Stay still," Buzz breathed into her ear, and Jessie complied, wondering what he was going to do next. She didn't have to wonder long; she felt him separate her hair into three sections gently, and he began to wind her hair around and around into an all too frequented style from not so long ago. She patiently waited for him to finish, enjoying feeling him stroking his long fingers through her hair. The attachment of the ribbon around the very end of her braid was a familiar sensation also.

When Buzz was done, Jessie twisted her head around to look at him, the braid swinging over her shoulder. She laughed delightedly and reached up to tug on the end of it like she'd used to do all those times before.

His hands stretched out, pulling her back into his lap, pulling the braid from her grasp and kissing her collarbone. She melted immediately, relaxing into his arms as he traced her neck with his lips, just like he'd used to do when they were first together back at Bonnie's.

* * *

"Lizzie?!" Lawrence called from the family room, and the young woman looked up from the sink where she was washing the plates from their 'picnic'.

"What is it?"

"I'm bored."

"Didn't you bring any toys with you?"

"Um…..yeah, I brought my colouring books. And my new superhero."

"Your…superhero?" Lizzie questioned, a small smile gracing her features.

"Yep!" Lawrence came to the kitchen door, and nodded at her. "He can fly."

"Oh really? And what else?"

"He can talk."

"Oh? What does he say?"

"He says…er…." Lawrence thought for a moment, and then struck a pose with one arm straight up in the air, "…he says - "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!'"

Lizzie almost dropped the plate she was holding. She clutched at the edge of the sink a little and Lawrence noticed.

"Lizzie? Are you okay?"

Lizzie blinked, and straightened up. "I'm fine. I just came over a bit dizzy, that's all." She put the plate in the draining rack and grabbed the towel to wipe her hands with. "How about I go upstairs and get your colouring books?"

* * *

"Buzz!" Jessie giggled, squirming in her boyfriend's grasp. "Someone's going to see!"

"What have I told you before, Jessie?" Buzz murmured. "Let them look."

"But Buzz….." Jessie let out another little noise of contentment as his lips continued to kiss and nip at her neck.

"No buts.." he whispered back, holding her in place. "I missed you so much.."

"I missed you too…" she breathed, giving in at his soft words. "But….here?"

"I sincerely hope not."

The strange voice made the two toys jump apart guiltily. Lizzie was standing in the doorway, an amused look on her face. The toys playing on the floor skittered out of her way as their owner crossed the bed and picked up the backpack lying on the bed.

She zipped it shut – from where Buzz had left it open when he'd climbed out – and settled down on the floor near the cowgirl and space ranger. "So…I heard you made it back here. Minus a cowboy doll and a horse…but at least you're in one piece," she commented kindly.

Jessie gasped a little and turned to Buzz. "Woody! You went back for him…where did he go?"

Buzz shook his head sadly. "Honestly? I have no idea, Jess. I'm sorry."

Jessie's face fell. "But…you went back for him…where _were_ you all that time?"

"In storage..." Buzz said, cupping her face with one hand. "Shortly after I arrived back at Amanda's, she came in and picked me up. She took me to the bathroom and washed all the dirt and soil off me from the garden." He chuckled at the memory. "Then she took me, wrapped me up in a big gift box, and then I was taken somewhere….and put into storage for a long time. I guess she saved me back for Lawrence's birthday."

"November 20th." Lizzie interjected, and Buzz nodded, turning back to Jessie.

"That's where I was, Jessie. I was in storage, waiting to get out to come back to you." He rubbed a thumb over one of the cowgirl's reddening cheeks and Lizzie sighed wistfully.

"You two are just so darn cute together. It makes me melt."

She sat there for a moment, glancing at the two lovestruck toys, and then smiled, dragging the backpack around in front of her and unzipping it again.

"Hop in. I have an idea."

* * *

"Lawrence wont be going to bed for a few hours. It's nearly Christmas, so I'll let him stay up a little later tonight as a treat." Lizzie explained, setting the backpack down on the bed in the next room. "You guys can have some alone time, catch up and talk without the other toys bothering you." She unzipped the backpack, allowing room for Buzz to crawl from the enclosed space before helping Jessie through the zipper opening too.

Both toys turned to survey their surroundings. They were in a small sparsely furnished room that was, however, homely enough to include the essentials. The paint on the walls was a mottled dark green, and the wardrobe and nightstand were white. There was a dresser opposite the end of the bed too, which held a small flat-screen television. The mattress under the two toys' feet was also white, but tinged with a light blue crisscross pattern. Buzz turned back to look at Jessie, who was clutching his one hand with both of her smaller ones.

"This is the spare room where Lawrence sleeps when he visits. Sorry there isn't more in here to give you guys entertainment, but the television has plenty of channels. There's some books and games in the bottom of the closet," Lizzie said, opening the door of said closet and leaving it ajar. She walked back over to the bed, digging through the opened backpack, removing the colouring books and crayons from it, then paused for a moment. "I should be getting back down with the colouring books. Lawrence will wonder where I got to!" She smiled brightly at the two toys, and then left the room without another word, shutting the door behind her.

Buzz turned back to Jessie. "Well…heh. What do you want to do first?"

"Do first?" Jessie snuggled closer to him with a smile.

"Yeah, we could sit and talk, or we could watch a movie, or we could explore the room, or we could play a game, or read a book…" Buzz babbled away.

Jessie flicked her newly rebraided hair over her shoulder. "I don't think I want to do any of those things."

"Then what?" Buzz glanced at her.

"Buzz….will you drop the pretence?" Jessie said with a pout forming on her lips. "Lizzie's put us in the spare room and we're all alone. You know what I want to _do_."

Buzz's eyes widened, sussing out her meaning almost instantly. "Here?"

"Here." She confirmed, wrapping her arms around his neck. With him having been gone so long, and her loneliness having overcome her in that period of time…what they now both wanted to do felt right.

"It's been a while," Buzz whispered, their faces inches apart.

Jessie nodded, remembering the one night so long ago at Amber's, when they had gone all the way.

"You ready? I don't…want to rush you into doing this. I mean, just 'cos Lizzie's left us here alone and gone downstairs…" Buzz caressed her cheek.

Jessie shushed him, placing a finger over his lips. "As I remember, the first time was my idea. Anyway…I thought you wanted this back in Lizzie's bedroom not more than twenty minutes ago?"

Buzz didn't answer; instead he covered Jessie's mouth with his own. Jessie was taken aback a little by the force behind the kiss. "Mmhmm," she murmured, throwing her arms around Buzz's neck.

They broke apart and looked shyly at each other. "We haven't kissed like _that_ for some time." Buzz commented, wrapping his arms around Jessie's waist.

"More like a long time," Jessie corrected him, then gestured downwards. "How about if we sit down for a bit?"

"Oh…o-o-okay." Buzz was a little disappointed she seemed to have changed her mind again in such a very short space of time, but he was happy to plop backwards on the bed, at least they could sit together and spend some time catching up. But before he could blink, Jessie had settled down on his lap.

"Howdy," she grinned at him seductively, and Buzz gave her an amused look.

"Something you want, cowgirl?"

"You…" Jessie breathed, fluttering her lashes as she bent to kiss him again. "Always you." Her leaning into him overbalanced him somehow, and they toppled backwards together, a tangle of arms, legs and other various toy-like components.

"Jessie…." Buzz whispered as she lay sprawled on top of him, their bodies entwined in that moment of intimacy.

"Hmm?" Her eyes were half lidded and blissfully peaceful.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Her eyes opened fully now, curious orbs looking down at him.

"Well," Buzz hesitated. "I just wondered, if you ever, when we were apart, if you ever…well that is, did you ever….you know, did you ever think about me?"

Jessie's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Silly space ranger. Of course."

Buzz swallowed. "And, well – I wondered." He stopped. "I don't know how to word it."

"Just ask me." Jessie rolled off him to cuddle into his side. Buzz felt a nervous lump rise in his throat and propped himself up on one elbow. No backing out now.

"Well, I kind of wondered if you did anything during those thoughts?"

Jessie glanced up to regard him wonderingly. "Do?" Then she realised what he meant." Oh….! You mean…." She smiled impishly. "Do I want to know…?"

"Well..." Buzz rubbed the back of his neck; his telltale sign he was getting anxious. "Do you…you know…"

"Do I…" Jessie smiled gently. It was fun to tease him, and she was enjoying this.

"T…t….t…touch…." Buzz trailed off.

"Touch myself?" Jessie indicated the seam between her legs.

_"Is it getting hot in here?"_ Buzz wondered, resisting the urge to fan himself. He coughed to mask his awkwardness. "Y-y-y-yeah…"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Jessie responded with a wink.

Buzz felt his excitement increasing as she saucily admitted this. "Would you…show me?" He asked, unable to believe the words were leaving his mouth.

Jessie bit her lip and pretended to pout. "I don't know…" she started, giving him her best come hither look, that only made Buzz's plastic areas swell with unknown urges.

"Please Jess." Buzz nestled closer to her as she sat up, and took her into his arms. "It's been so long…and it would really…h-h-help…" His voice was breaking a little as their bodies came within close proximity. Jessie gave another mischievous smile.

"Well – just once….and just for you…" she reached down between her legs, her fingers tracing her seam delicately. Buzz watched, feeling like he might burst just watching her put on her little display.

He noticed his breathing had started to increase, and Jessie's had too. It must be an incredible turn on for her, Buzz realised, to have his eyes glued to her playing with herself. He felt her shift next to him, and before Buzz could stop himself, his long fingers were moving her smaller ones out of the way. His fingers grazed her seam now, and Jessie tipped her head back in pleasure.

"Buzz!" Jessie moaned immediately, her own hand reaching across to place it on his thigh. His gasps shuttered as her hand moved up a little to stroke him in the hard plastic area across his groin.

"Oh God….Jessie…" Buzz moaned in response, his wings flicking out with a loud _ka-chunk_ as they continued to pleasure each other. The reaction told Jessie he wanted her, and _knowing_ he wanted her spurred her on to intensify the moment. She thrust up a little towards his fingers on her seam with a sly look in his direction.

"Jess…" Buzz groaned a bit at the movement. "If you do that against my hand again, I might just lose it and not be able to resist pinning you down."

Jessie gave another cheeky thrust, and within a moment of it she found herself flat on her back. "I warned you," Buzz said firmly, pinning her arms up either side of her head. His mouth traced her neck with another row of kisses, his heavyset plastic chest coming to rest on hers as he slid down.

"Buzz…." Jessie moaned, as his mouth wandered over her neck and then lower still, over her chest. He was kissing where her cleavage would be, and his lips felt good on that section. She arched a little, moaning, as his fingers wound themselves around her braid. She decided she liked what he was doing, and let him continue.

Her fingers slipped around to his back to the panel where his batteries were kept. "Care to make this more….sensual?" she whispered, holding her finger over the small indent that began the compartment latch.

Buzz's eyes widened. "Jessie…..no, please…I want to be me and enjoy this…just us two…no alter egos."

Bewildered, Jessie let her hand slip away from his compartment. She recovered quickly though. "Spoilsport," she teased, running her hands over his face. She pulled him close for another kiss, just as his hand slipped back to the seam between her legs. She gasped as he nudged her legs open a little with his foot, pressing a little more against her.

"What did you call me?" Buzz asked, rubbing harder on her seam.

"I s-s-said you're a-a….ohhhhh." Jessie groaned heavily, letting her whole body sag against the bed. "Buzz….ohhh…don't stop…"

"You like that?" Buzz panted, continuing to rub her seam.

"Ohhh…yes…" Jessie moaned, feeling the fireworks beginning in her cloth body. "Oh….Buzz, yes!" She squealed and squirmed, rocking against his fingers. She could feel a sensation building in her, just like the one she'd had when they had first explored each other all that time ago.

"Let it go, Jessie…" Buzz whispered.

She obeyed, the colours in her head blinding her as he brought her over the peak. A shriek of pleasure escaped her lips, followed by his name. When she was finished, she collapsed in his arms, breathing hard, her eyes closed. She felt him cuddle her close as he rolled onto his side next to her. She opened her eyes and turned over to face him, throwing one leg around his waist.

He grabbed her leg with a grin, hiking it up. "I thought you'd never ask."

She felt the hard ridge of his belt press against her soft seam this time. Her hands and fingers squirmed around between them, unsnapping his utility accessory. With the belt out of the way, he began to move against her, gently at first, then harder as he picked up the pace. Again and again he pressed against her, spurred on by her soft moans, yet also by the quietness around them. Her hands were braced against his broad torso, her fingers tracing his buttons every so often. Jessie tipped her head back, allowing him to kiss her neck as their bodies met repeatedly.

"I love you," she heard the words leave his mouth and she gasped aloud.

"You do?"

"Until infinity," he responded, and she felt the tingling in her cotton limbs intensify.

"Oh Buzz….I love y-y…" She broke off, unable to finish the thought as he pressed more insistently to her. All she could feel was the strong pressure against her chest and seam, all she could hear was his breath in her ear, all she could smell was the raw sexual tension between them, all she could taste were his lips on hers, and all she could see was them falling deeper into an abyss of love that she didn't ever want to escape.

"Jessie….." he moaned, thrusting against her with a low guttural groan. While she had been busy thinking over how she felt, he had worked himself up into a wild frenzy beside her, and he was clutching at her. "I'm….so c-c-close," he gasped.

"What have I told you before, Buzz?" she whispered seductively. "Just go with it…"


	16. Amanda's Visit

_A/N: Well this fic took a back seat while I was writing and finishing __**Equiness Success**__. Sorry about that. Back we go…._

* * *

**Chapter 16 - Amanda's Visit**

"Buzz?" Lizzie's soft voice filtered through into the space toy's brain.

The door to the spare room opened a crack, and the young woman's head peered around it shortly after. Buzz held up a finger to his lips, motioning to the cowgirl doll asleep next to him, her head resting on his chest.

"Oh. Sorry," Lizzie whispered, "I just wanted to let you guys know that Lawrence fell asleep downstairs, so I'm going to let him sleep for now. I'll probably bring him up and take him into my room tonight, so you guys don't have to worry about being disturbed." She paused. "Is everything alright?"

Buzz smiled briefly and nodded, careful not to give anything away with his facial expressions. Inside, his whole body still tingled from the experience earlier that night, but he was damned if he was going to let anyone but Jessie know it.

"I'll let you two have some peace," Lizzie whispered at last, smiling at the sight of Jessie sleeping so soundly. "Goodnight." The bedroom door closed, and Buzz breathed out, closing his eyes and allowing himself to relax into a light slumber until the morning rays filtering through the window woke him again.

* * *

"Amanda's here!" Lawrence was full of energy the next morning. True to her word, Lizzie had allowed him to sleep downstairs on the couch for a while, and then hoisted him into her arms and carried him up into her bed for the night. The small boy had snuggled right into her, and feeling his little arms wrapped around her, Lizzie smiled a smile of pure contentment as she, too, had fallen asleep besides him.

She was awoken rudely from her dreams by Lawrence barrelling into her room and beginning to shout over and over as she roused groggily.

"Amanda's at the door! Lizzie! Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, she's here, she's here!"

With an annoyed groan, Lizzie pulled herself into a sitting position as Lawrence jumped onto the bed. "Lizzie! Get up! Amanda's here!"

"I heard you the first half a dozen times," Lizzie grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and pushing back the duvet. She swung her legs over the side and stood as Lawrence continued to bounce on the bed merrily, shouting.

"Amanda's here! Amanda's here!"

"Lawrence." Lizzie finally lost her calm resolve and rounded on the little boy. "Stop shouting, and stop bouncing on the bed before you break it or injure yourself!" She snapped.

Lawrence's eyes widened at Lizzie's words and he stopped bouncing. "But…" his lip quivered as he slumped into a sitting position. "Amanda's at the door…."

"I know she is, and I'm going to go and let her in. Now, let's be sensible and remember our manners, hmm?" Lizzie chided him, throwing on her robe and gesturing to Lawrence to follow her downstairs, which he did, but not before eliciting a loud, heavy, dramatic sigh.

* * *

"Buzz…" Jessie murmured, rolling over in her sleep. Her back rested into Buzz's side as he kept his arms around her. They were spooning on the bed in the spare room still, the morning light bright against the window.

"Morning," Buzz whispered into his girlfriend's ear from behind.

"You're here? I thought it was all a dream." Jessie rolled one hundred and eighty degrees and rested her head back on the pillow. Buzz tenderly stroked her cheek.

"It wasn't a dream, Jess. It happened."

"All of it?" She whispered again, a faint blush colouring her cheeks.

"All of it." Buzz confirmed, dropping a light kiss onto her forehead.

"Where's….where's Lawrence?" Jessie asked, her eyes searching Buzz's face.

"He's downstairs somewhere. I heard him shouting earlier and it woke me up. I think Amanda came to visit for a while."

"Amanda?" Jessie's doe eyes grew even bigger than Buzz thought possible, "What's she doing here?" She clutched briefly at Buzz, who smiled softly.

"Jess…its fine; she hasn't come to get me. I belong to Lawrence, remember?"

"But…" Jessie's eyes filled with emotion and Buzz soothed her.

"Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to us."

"We thought that when Amber abandoned us." Jessie sniffed a little, and Buzz sighed.

"How about we wait and see, huh?"

"I've had enough of being abandoned," Jessie's voice trembled. "Five owners and they all abandoned me."

"Andy didn't abandon us, Jessie, and neither did Bonnie." Buzz stroked her hair. "It's just Emily and Amber and…wait. Did you say five?"

Jessie's eyes bugged a little as she computed what Buzz was saying. "Ignore me Buzz. It's a stupid mistake. I'm just tired. I meant four."

"But…" Buzz began, but he didn't have time to finish as the door opened behind them.

"Are you awake?" Lizzie spoke from the doorway. "It's just gone eleven a.m, and I have something to show you both..."


	17. Revelations

**Chapter 17 – Revelations**

_Lithium, don't wanna lock me up inside,  
Lithium, don't wanna forget how it feels without,  
Lithium, I wanna stay in love with my sorrow,  
Oh, but God I wanna let it go._

_~Lithium; Evanescence_

* * *

"What's the big secret?" Jessie asked, sitting up as Lizzie shut the door to the spare room and locked it.

"You'll soon see," Lizzie grinned. She put down on the bed a medium sized box, and also a big hardback book. Jessie instantly recognised the book as the comprehensive antiques manual that Lizzie kept in her room; the very same book that they had flipped through many weeks ago when Buzz had first come to find her.

A ghost of a hand clutched around Jessie's heart, squeezing it so she lost the ability to breath for a moment or two. _Buzz was fine,_ she reminded herself. He was here, right beside her. He hadn't abandoned her, he'd come back to her, just as she knew he would, even if she had given up hope for a short while.

"I want you guys to prepare yourself, because I was just as surprised as you. I had to come up and get the book to make sure it was what I thought it was." Lizzie was explaining as she lifted the lid off the box.

Buzz and Jessie exchanged a glance. With a little shrug, Jessie dared to get up and take a half step forward, lifting her chin to peer into the box from a distance. Her expression changed to one of total shock. A word formed on her lips that she didn't dare speak, should this be a dream too.

"Bullseye?"

The animal she thought she could see in the box now moved, with a little whinny. Clumsily, it staggered to its feet, putting out one hoof to the ground at a time, and Jessie let out a shriek. "Bullseye!" she shouted happily, darting forward and almost knocking the poor steed over onto its side in the box again.

"What's all the shouting?" A familiar voice pierced the silence as Jessie threw her arms around Bullseye's neck in joy. She backed off just as quickly, and turned to her left, looking into the box as if her eyes might drop out of her head.

"Woody?"

Her incredulousness brought Buzz to his feet and he quickly covered the short distance between the spot on the bed where he had spent the night and the edge of the box in which Woody was sitting. In the time the space toy had managed this, however, Jessie had thrown herself abruptly on the cloth cowboy and hugged him so hard his stitching nearly popped in several places.

When the cowgirl finally pulled back, Woody readjusted himself and rubbed his face, feeling around for his hat. As his eyes adjusted to the bright light, his gaze settled on Buzz, now directly in front of him, and then Jessie.

"Jessie! Buzz! How….where are…" The cowboy began in realisation, and then he saw Lizzie sitting there watching the reunion with amusement. "Oh! Oh!" Woody garbled, thrown off by the human seeing them out of toy mode.

"Woody. Relax." Buzz said, shaking the cowboy's shoulder gently over the side of the box. "It's only Lizzie. She knows, remember what I told you?"

"Oh! Right," Woody recovered, his conversation from a few weeks ago with Buzz returning to his memory bank. He still stammered a little though, cowering a little under the young woman's stare. He looked around at Buzz. "We're safe?"

"As horses," Jessie nodded, stroking Bullseye's mane with her fingers as the steed snuggled into her lovingly. "But I don't get it." She turned to look up at Lizzie. "How did you come to possess a box with Woody and Bullseye in it?"

Lizzie shrugged and smiled. "Turns out Amanda's visit had a purpose. She bought me my Christmas present."

"Your pres-…" Jessie looked around at Woody. "Oh….she bought us as a set - but two separate gifts?"

"Looks that way," Lizzie agreed from behind them. "By the look of it, she knew you needed some work," she indicated Woody's dusty shirt and unpolished boots. "But never mind. I'll fix you up in no time later tonight."

A silence fell over the small group, punctuated only by the scratch of Jessie's fingers against Bullseye's mane.

"Well…" Lizzie began, getting up. "I'll leave you to catch up. I have to see Amanda off and then Lawrence wants to go to the park for a bit."

The three toys nodded quietly, staring between themselves at each other, still unable to believe they had been reunited again.

* * *

"How does this keep happening?" Woody wondered aloud, brushing the dust off his hat. It was half an hour since Lizzie had left, and ten minutes since they had heard the front door open and bang shut. They had been able to see the two girls, with Lawrence in tow, stroll down the path. After a hug between the two girls, Amanda had gotten into her car, but Lizzie had carried on down the sidewalk with her hand holding Lawrence's tightly.

"I don't know." Buzz said idly, watching the cowboy doll try to undo the years of dirt on his clothes.

"I tell you what I _do _know. We could have all been destined for far apart places if Amanda hadn't come to rescue us from the yard sale," Woody commented, straightening the collar and sleeves of his shirt. "After Amber abandoned us like that, I think we seriously have a lucky streak going on."

Reminded of their conversation prior to Woody being in the room, Buzz turned back to where Jessie was sitting with Bullseye. The horse had completely relaxed under Jessie's administration of fingers against his mane, and had laid his head in her lap. Every so often the he would give a soft whinny of pleasure before silently settling again.

"That reminds me," Buzz said, directly addressing Jessie now. "Earlier this morning, you said something about being abandoned by five owners."

"Buzz, will you drop it. I was tired and I made a mistake." Jessie muttered, refusing to look the space toy in the eye.

"I don't believe you." Buzz challenged her. "Especially now you're acting skittish about it."

"I'm not acting skittish," Jessie retorted. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Woody interjected, and Jessie glared at him, sitting up a little and straightening her hat in a 'don't-push-me' way.

"So you admit there's something to talk about." Buzz pressed. He really should have known better but he couldn't help himself.

"Don't." Jessie now directed her glare onto Buzz. This scared the space toy enough to make him take a step backwards. He blinked and glanced at Woody, who shrugged. They both looked back at Jessie, who had dropped her gaze once more and was petting away at Bullseye again.

Buzz bit his lip as he stared at Jessie. _What on earth was she hiding from him?_


	18. Revelations Part II

**Chapter 18 – Revelations, Part II**

"In we go." Lizzie grinned as she opened the door to the house and Lawrence rushed inside. They were back at home after an hour at the local park, and Lawrence had been overjoyed to try out the swings, the slide, and the climbing frame, one after the other, time after time.

"Take your coat and shoes off! You'll get mud everywhere!" Lizzie called after the young boy as he raced into the living room, with all his winter layers still intact. She shut the door behind her, and was taking off her coat when a noise behind her made her turn. Looking around, her gaze fell on her mother standing just outside the living room door.

Lizzie's eyes widened. "Mom! I wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow! I thought you'd gone to visit Aunty Carol for a week…" she trailed off as Lawrence came bowling back out of the living room, holding Ted in his arms. He rushed at Lizzie and she caught him as he did so, making him stop in his tracks. She began to take off his coat as she stood there, feeling uneasy suddenly.

"Aunty Carol came down with a cold and we felt it unwise to burden her when she wasn't feeling well. Your Uncle Derek isn't the most entertaining of people as you know." Mrs Newmarket's gaze fixed on her daughter, searching her face. "Who's this young man running around our house?"

Lizzie froze and hovered, holding Lawrence's coat in both hands uselessly. She couldn't move or speak. She inhaled sharply, a hundred different excuses running through her brain – which one should she pick? That she babysat? He was a relative? He was a friend's little boy? She'd found him wandering in the street? That she was a ruthless kidnapper?

She breathed out. Her mother, nor her father for that matter, would never believe any imaginary, fake excuse.

"Mom. This is Lawrence. He's…he's your grandchild."

* * *

"What's that noise?" Jessie asked, perking up a little at the sounds coming from the other side of the door. The four of them were still in the spare room, having been left there since Lizzie went out. An hour to so later they'd heard a car in the driveway and Woody had gone to look out of the window, thinking it might be Amanda coming back for Bullseye, Buzz or himself (or all three of them).

Thankfully it had only been Lizzie's parents. They drove the car into the garage below and then the toys heard the various downstairs noises of doors opening and closing as the two older folk settled back into their home life. It was only since Lizzie had returned with Lawrence that the louder noises had started.

"Sounds like an argument." Woody commented. He'd heard enough of those over the years to be an expert on them. Then he heard another noise, another that he knew all too well. Footsteps on the stairs.

"Freeze, quick! I think that's Lawrence!" The cowboy doll hissed, and almost as soon as he had spoken, the door to the spare room flew open and Lawrence appeared, with Ted in his arms. He flung the teddy bear down on the pillow and picked up Buzz.

"So this is where the spaceman landed!" he cried in excitement, "I'll show you to Lizzie later!" He put Buzz down, and his gaze settled on the other unfamiliar toys littering the bed. Curiously, he reached out and picked up Jessie first, glancing at her.

He screwed up his nose. "A girl? Yucky!" He flung the cowgirl down and picked up Woody instead. His face brightened this time. "Cowboy! Awesome!" Clutching Woody to his chest, Lawrence exited the room, leaving the door wide open behind him as he ran back downstairs.

As the boy's footsteps faded, Ted picked himself up and glanced about. "Well, there's certainly a whole hullabaloo going on down there," he remarked to no one in particular. "Where the devil am I?"

"In the spare room." Jessie adjusted her hat and straightened herself up from where she'd been flung down. "Were you downstairs all this time?"

"Yes, my dear. I think Lawrence forgot I was downstairs with all his tiredness last night and his excitement over Amanda this morning." Ted chuckled, then paused and glanced at Buzz. "Well! My eyes do deceive me - Buzz Lightyear. When did you get back?"

"Yesterday." Buzz smiled. "So, what's going on downstairs?"

"My gadget-ready friend, I'm not sure." Ted stretched out his cotton limbs and shrugged. "Something about a secret Lizzie was keeping. I wasn't privy to the details."

"Lizzie's not the only one with a secret." Buzz commented, turning to look at Jessie. The cowgirl flushed and looked away as the space toy walked over and took both her smaller hands into his larger ones. He stroked her palms with his fingers as she kept looking down. "Jessie, please just tell me what you're thinking. Whatever it is, whatever's gone on, it can't be as bad as Emily."

"How do you know? How do you know it isn't something really bad?" Jessie murmured, still staring at the floor. "I can't tell you Buzz. It hurts too much. Please…just let's drop it."

"Fine! Don't tell me! That's it." Buzz dropped her hands, and Jessie finally looked up in astonishment. "I've asked you nicely, I've tried to be understanding all this time. I've even said I'll help you through it, and all I get is you pushing me away. I don't understand you, Jessie. After all we've been through, you and me, and you can't tell me this."

"Buzz…" Jessie's eyes widened, and she tried to grab at his hands, a gesture that Buzz avoided by taking a step back. "I _can't_ tell you. It's too…" a sob caught in her throat as the situation spun out of control in front of her.

"No, you know what? It's fine. Fine!" Buzz spat, turning on his heel and walking away. Jessie stared after him as he hopped down off the bed. She watched him scout outside the door for any movement before he disappeared around the door frame and out of sight. Tears welled in Jessie's eyes and she hugged her arms around her chest as she started to cry, and even the soft nudge of Bullseye's head into her side wasn't enough to comfort her.


	19. Revelations Part III

_A/N: So who else is waaaay too excited for TSOT? Sucks that I have to wait until the 27th October to get it in the UK, but muchly excited for it's airing in the US tomorrow! _

_Anyhoo. I was planning on getting this fiction finished before I actually watch the special, so if anyone out there reading can please take the time to leave a review that would be lovely. :)_

* * *

**Chapter 19 – Revelations, Part III**

"How is this possible?" Mrs Newmarket demanded. The heated discussion that had begun in the hallway had now moved into the living room where Mr Newmarket was also part of it. Mrs Newmarket was standing facing her daughter, her arms folded.

"Well Mom, you should know, you gave me the talk." Lizzie couldn't help her sarcasm getting the better of her.

"Not that!" Mrs Newmarket rounded on Lizzie. "How can it be that you had a baby, out of wedlock, and you didn't even think to tell us?"

"Because I knew this would happen." Lizzie protested defensively.

"I'm not allowed to freak out that my daughter got pregnant, concealed it from me, went somewhere to have a baby alone, and then kept it hidden from me for _six years_?" Mrs Newmarket paused. "Not to mention that you haven't even told us who the father is."

"I know who he is, Mom." Lizzie argued back. "But he doesn't want anything to do with me, and he hasn't ever since Lawrence was in the womb!"

Mrs Newmarket threw up her hands. "Why didn't you use something? Like protection?"

"We just…forgot." Lizzie stammered, unable to come up with anything better than the truth. Her mother shot her a disapproving look. "Mom…..don't you think it's a bit late for this talk?"

"Maybe it is. But I still can't believe you-" Mrs Newmarket went to go on, but instead fell silent as her husband put down his newspaper and stood up from his seat in the armchair, where he had been listening in on the entire exchange.

"Ellen. Let me say something." Mr Newmarket touched his wife's arm and looked at his daughter. "Lizzie. You can understand why your mother is so upset. Now, I don't know your reasons for not telling us what was going on, but you didn't. Now, you say this little boy – Lawrence – is our grandchild, and he's in foster care?"

Lizzie nodded meekly. When it came to her father, she didn't dare argue her position.

"Right. Well then. He's here for the weekend until the foster carers come back into town?" Mr Newmarket asked.

Lizzie nodded again, wondering what was coming next.

"Well then, we have a little over a day to spoil our grandson and get to know him a little bit. How about –" Mr Newmarket stopped as Lawrence ran back into the room, clutching hold of a toy doll.

"Lizzie, I found this upstairs. Can I have it?" Lawrence was unaware he was interrupting anything and turned to Lizzie with big eyes. Lizzie looked down and gasped as she realised he was clutching Woody, and bent down to retrieve the doll from Lawrence's grasp.

"Lawrence! You must never touch things that don't belong to you. Didn't I teach you that?"

"But it was in my room," Lawrence said, his face falling as Lizzie took the toy from him.

"Well, you can't have him, Lawrence. Amanda gave me him for Christmas, remember? Besides, he needs cleaning up, see?" Lizzie brushed the dust from the cowboy as Mr Newmarket looked on before he spoke.

"May I see that?" Lizzie looked over at her father as he held out his hand for her to pass him the cowboy doll. She hesitated and then passed Woody across.

"He's a rare doll, Dad. I looked him up. Him and a horse, and a cowgirl doll that Amanda got me for my birthday…they're part of the same set."

Mr Newmarket nodded silently, turning the cloth doll over. "Well. You're right about one thing. He certainly needs some seeing to." He released the doll back to Lizzie's grasp and then paused. "Like I was saying before – and I know we only just got back home - but we should go out and spoil this little one before he has to go back." He looked at Lawrence, and the little boy looked up at both Mr and Mrs Newmarket as if he was watching a tennis match.

"Where are we going?" Lizzie asked, and her father chuckled.

"I was thinking of the Waffle House, actually."

"The Waffle House? At Christmas?" Lizzie raised a brow at her father's odd choice of eatery.

"It used to be your favourite place when you were a little girl." Mrs Newmarket cut in with a smile, her face softening now at the memory.

Lizzie laughed, remembering one particular visit at Christmas - a dinner of waffles with blueberries on their way home from visiting one relative or another. "Okay, okay, I'm in."

* * *

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," Woody consoled Jessie. Lizzie had come back up to the spare room to collect the other toys left there and return them to her room. However it only took the mention of Buzz's name (on seeing he was missing from sight) on her lips to make Jessie's face crumple.

Ted had helpfully filled in the gaps as placidly as he could, as the only calm one present – what with Buzz's anger, Jessie's sadness, Woody's shock and Lizzie's confusion over the entire thing. But with Lizzie gone out with her parents and Lawrence, Buzz nowhere to be seen, and Ted watching from his perch on the toy chest, it fell to Woody to comfort the cowgirl doll.

"But what if he did? He'd one of my best friends, he's my…other half." Jessie sobbed, wiping at her eyes with her fingers, which did no good - the tears fell faster than she could wipe them away.

"You and Buzz have gotten into fights before and it's never been so bad that you didn't work it out in the end," Woody reminded her. "Why don't you just tell him what's bothering you?"

"Because I've never told anyone. It's my burden to bear, my secret." Jessie whimpered a little.

"It doesn't have to be. A problem shared is a problem halved." Woody patted Jessie's shoulder. "Remember how I told you that when Andy was growing up, he used to whisper to me at night when he was having problems at school? I like to think it helped him get through it. Just like what we're doing now – you're telling me what's wrong so I can try and help you. I'm advising you to tell Buzz so you don't feel so bad about what went on before."

"How can I?" Jessie questioned, "He's mad at me." She gave another sob as the blanket under them lurched under them slightly. Glancing up, she saw Buzz's head appear over the side of the bed. He hopped up before stopping short at the sight in front of him; Jessie curled up in Woody's arms, her eyes red and her pale face drawn in sorrow.

"Oh. I'd just come to see if you were up here, Woody, but I can see you're busy." Buzz said abruptly and started to leave again.

"Buzz, wait." Woody's voice made the space toy turn. "There's something you need to hear." Woody looked down at Jessie curled up besides him.

Buzz frowned. "I'm not sure I want or need to hear anything right now."

Jessie winced at his tone. "Buzz….please," her voice was almost a whisper as his glare directed onto her.

"No! You know what, you don't get the monopoly on the whole pity-me thing you have going on all the time." Buzz snapped.

Jessie reared up at Buzz's harsh words, causing Woody to startle next to her. "You think I'm looking for pity?! You couldn't handle what I went through!" She shouted angrily.

"Jessie. We know about Emily. You told us." Woody tried to smooth things over as things started to get heated, but the flame haired cowgirl wasn't listening. In fact, she rose to her feet, and glared daggers back at Buzz, her hands at her side curling into fists.

"This isn't about Emily! This is about _Pamela_!" She shouted, her rage getting the better of her as she spat out the name. A palpable silence rested over the little group for the second time in a little over an hour.

Woody dared to break it. "Who's Pamela?"

Jessie's head turned, her eyes darting over to her brother. "Nobody." She said in a small voice. She suddenly looked defensive, scared, frightened.

"Which explains why you're becoming erratic," Woody uttered, making Jessie's mouth twist into an ugly shape.

"Fine. If you must know, Pamela was my old owner." She turned back to face front, but her eyes dropped towards the floor as she spoke.

"I thought _Emily_ was your old owner." Buzz now found the courage to speak since Jessie's temper had revealed itself. He was still standing by the edge of the bed where he'd appeared from, but was making no further moves to turn tail anymore.

"She is….was." Jessie sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Emily wasn't my first owner. Pamela was."

She looked so forlorn Buzz's heart ached for her. He couldn't bear to be so angry at her when she looked like that. "So how did you come to be with Emily?" He coaxed, stepping closer to Jessie now and taking her hand in his. Gently, the space toy helped Jessie sit down, rubbing her back, trying to calm her.

Jessie sniffed back her emotions. "It's a long story." The cowgirl sat and recalled the summer over 25 years ago to the other two listening toys, with Ted also looking on in the background.

"I was a valuable, rare, expensive doll, way back when my type were the first ones off the production line. I wasn't one of those dime store toys you get everywhere. I was delivered to a posh, exclusive store somewhere in Ottawa and put into a glass case, much like the ones in Al's apartment."

"There were many other dolls in that store. There were porcelain dolls, teddies, and even some stuffed toys that were rare. There was only one of me, though. I was left sitting in the glass case for months, locked up. It was very lonely. The other dolls and toys were in larger boxes in twos or threes, padlocked and secure, so at least they didn't have the problem of being lonely like me."

"Then one day this rather classy, elegant looking woman walked in. She wanted a toy for her daughter. She didn't want a stuffed toy, and she didn't want anything breakable. She spotted me on her walk around the shop, and deemed me perfect. I was finally taken out of the case, put into a box and carried away."

"When the lady got me back to her house, she unpacked me and put me into a cupboard. I was so scared – I was trapped in the box, I couldn't move, and the dark was all consuming. She finally took me out a few weeks later, and wrapped me up in some gift paper, which made my living conditions even more unbearable, I couldn't escape the dark."

"A few days later, the cupboard was opened again and I was taken out. I could feel myself being placed down, and then before I knew it the wrapping paper surrounding me was ripped off and I found myself staring into the eyes of a child. This was Pamela. She squealed when she saw me, tearing open the box, even though her mother told her to be careful. She pulled me out from the box and hugged me to her." Jessie gave a little sigh and a wan smile. "The connection was instant. Pamela took me everywhere with her."

"So why did you leave Pamela's?" Woody asked, wrinkling his brow in confusion.

Jessie sighed. "I didn't leave of my own accord. Events have to happen before a toy leaves the home they're originally placed in. As it turns out, I spent a few happy years with Pamela. She wasn't a bright child but over the years I realised she was marvellous at English. She'd bring home short stories her mother pinned on the fridge. She wanted to be a writer. She had her future all planned out, including the courses she wanted to take at college when she grew up."

Jessie paused, covering her mouth with a hand, gasping in a shallow way at the feelings welling up in her again. Buzz squeezed her hand. "It's okay Jessie. Go on."

Jessie sniffed, pulling her hand from Buzz's briefly to wipe her eye as a fat tear rolled down her cheek. "It was two years I spent with Pamela. When she was six, she was diagnosed with a rare strain of leukaemia. She had to undergo treatment and it was me who accompanied her to the hospital. I watched her change from a healthy normal girl into a shadow of herself. She could barely write her own name, let alone any stories."

Woody and Buzz looked at each other, then back at Jessie. The cowgirl doll had by now curled her legs up to her chest and was looking down at her knees sorrowfully.

"Pamela died of leukaemia some months later, just like the doctors said she would. There was nothing they could do for her." She sniffled again, louder this time. "I was there with her at the very end. I had to watch my beloved Pamela die. I don't think anything is worse than that. Not even being abandoned by Emily all those years later."

There was a melancholy silence now. Woody and Buzz digested this information, and then without warning, Buzz suddenly pulled Jessie into his arms, cuddling her close. Her small arms wrapped around his torso as she sobbed into his plastic chest. Her body racked and heaved for a good five minutes as her emotions got the better of her completely, and Buzz could guess that her tears didn't completely stem from her grief about her old owners; some of them were his fault. He suddenly felt stupid and pathetic for having walked away from her earlier when she'd obviously needed him to be understanding.

But before he could thoroughly process these thoughts, another question sprang to mind which he voiced aloud. "Jess? How did you get to be with Emily?"

Jessie pulled back, her hair mussed from where she'd been buried against Buzz's chest, and her eyes and face flushed and red from her tears. "When Pamela died, she had been placed in a ward opposite another little girl who had suffered a broken leg as the result of horse riding. The hospital was a small country hospice, which didn't have the facilities to hold a lot of patients. When they came to clear her things away, her mother left me with that little girl with the broken leg, who hugged me close and cherished me for the next ten years or so. _That_ was Emily."

"I stayed with Emily in the hospice while her leg healed, and then she took me home with her. Being from a poor family, she didn't have money to spend on toys, but she loved her horses. She had all sorts of cowboy stuff, even a rocking horse and a horse head on a stick she used to pretend to ride around the house. It used to make me laugh to watch her," Jessie added softly, another tear rolling down her cheek. She turned her face to bury it back into Buzz's chest plate, her body shuddering at all the violent memories resurfacing in her head.

"Jessie." Buzz breathed, stroking her hair as Woody shifted in place nearby. "I'm sorry."

"She was my only connection to Pamela - and Emily just abandoned me." Jessie wept, her grief overwhelming her. "I never got to say goodbye to either of them."


	20. Two Doors Down

_Author's Note: Seems appropriate for this next chapter to be about glass cases and boxes given the nature of the TS special…lol._

* * *

**Chapter 20 – Two Doors Down**

It was later that evening, and Lawrence had run upstairs to get Buzz. The little boy had promised himself to show his brand new toy to Lizzie earlier and it wasn't something he had forgotten in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Woody had been placed - by Lizzie - on the dresser, well out of Lawrence's reach, and he was busy acquainting himself with a set of small china dolls up there, all of whom were cooing over him and pushing each other out of the way in order to address the cowboy. Jessie had been amused to watch it from the bed, and it seemed from Woody's expression that it was just as hilarious up close.

With Buzz gone, and Woody at a distance, Jessie found herself sitting next to Ted, who suddenly grumbled out a question. "So who is Emily?"

The cowgirl turned her head to look at Ted. The memories came flooding back for a second time, and there was a tremble in her voice as she spoke. "E-Emily is my old owner."

"I gathered as much, from what you said earlier about being given to her in the hospice," Ted responded. "But I don't understand why you left _Emily_."

"I didn't leave her. She l-left me," Jessie whispered as she remembered her long lost owner. "She put me in a b-box with a bunch of other stuff for donation." She began to recount the many years previous, and before she knew what was happening, she was blurting out everything – her being found by Al and being kept in storage in a box in his apartment, Woody turning up and subsequently rescuing them from being sent to Japan, and their time with Andy before being passed to Bonnie. Then she went on to tell Ted about Sunnyside, Buzz's switch to Spanish mode and the incident in the incinerator. She recalled all the moments during and after Bonnie grew up, their being passed to Amber, and all the events that happened with that little girl, before the more recent episode of being found at the yard sale by Amanda. She cringed as she remembered being packed into the box for the yard sale, and the gift wrap that had surrounded her when Amanda gave her to Lizzie.

Ted listened attentively to all that the little cowgirl had to say, and even some of the nearby toys on the nightstand craned to hear her words, Firefly fluttering a little closer to listen. When she was finished, and near to tears from her memories, Ted nodded in sympathy before laying one large fluffy paw on Jessie's leg. "My dear, I sympathise completely with your emotions. Even if you have had many more adventures than I have, I can understand one thing."

Jessie raised woeful eyes to the teddy bear sitting beside her. "What's that?"

"Remember what I told you before?" Ted growled softly. "I too was sat in a box on a shelf in Lizzie's old room for many years."

Jessie didn't answer, she just shivered slightly. Even after all these years, the word '_box'_ always seemed to send a chill down her spine.

"Of course," Ted went on, "I suppose things are different between us. You were trapped in a cardboard box, I was trapped in a see-through one."

Jessie nodded solemnly. "That's right."

"Of course, glass cases in a shop are also see-through." Ted pointed out.

Jessie thought right back to the beginning of her life, and the glass case at the shop in Ottawa she had described to Woody and Buzz earlier that day. "Yes…"

"They're not scary, but they're still boxes." Ted said thoughtfully. "I suppose its how you view them."

"From the inside," Jessie muttered to herself.

"I heard that," Ted said gruffly, turning his head ever so slightly to look at Jessie. "You have to stop that train of thought. You can't let it rule you for the rest of your life. You _do_ realise that's how things are for a toy? We're always put in boxes for transport. It's best you start getting used to that when you're young."

"There's only one time when I feel safe in a box." Jessie spoke up, almost interrupting Ted's flow of words, and his silence next to her made her feel as if she should explain further. "It's just when – when Buzz is there. He glows – so brightly - and it's not dark."

"So it's the dark that makes you hyperventilate?" Ted guessed, and Jessie shook her head.

"Not just the dark."

"You don't like being closed in?" Ted guessed again, a wry smile crossing his face. .

"I guess it's a combination of bo-" Jessie thought about her panic and the walls closing in on her. Suddenly something made her stop and look up at her companion. "Wait. How did you know?"

"Because Honey was exactly the same." Ted's wry smile grew softer with the thought.

"Honey?" Jessie questioned, her eyes searching the teddy bear's face.

"It may surprise you to learn that I _also_ know what its like to be separated from a loved one. Like you and the toy gizmo himself."

"You do?" Jessie couldn't hide a smile at Ted's reference to Buzz.

"Yes, my dear. She's my twin. We were sold at the same time, same shop, as part of a set. We used to talk to each other at night, cocooned in our boxes up on the shelf. I distracted her from the walls around her during those years together. Her box over balanced one night, a long time ago now. It tore on the way down and she never returned to the shelf after that."

"So, where did she go?" Jessie asked.

"Lizzie took her out of the room the next morning. I understood from the other toys at the time that she went two doors down. After some time, I found the stories to be true." Ted paused. "But I don't worry about Honey. I know she's looked after, that's the main thing."

"You liked her?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Very much. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to tell her. After she got moved, and after my own box broke, I saw her less and less. If I see her these days, it's only fleetingly."

"That's so sad," Jessie whispered, remembering how her heart had broken when she hadn't seen Buzz during their brief period of separation the past few months. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday. When Lawrence took me out of the room."

Jessie blinked. "But…Lawrence didn't take you anywhere, just downstairs."

Ted smiled warmly at the cowgirl doll. "I know. But I saw her as I passed Lizzie's parents room."

"Her parents room?" Jessie looked up at the big fluffy teddy. "But you said…"

"Yes. Two doors down." Ted chuckled. "You thought she moved to another house?"

"I…" Jessie stammered and then started to smile. "So…it's unrequited love?"

"I w-wouldn't s-say-" Now it was Ted's turn to stammer, and he glanced around nervously. "I w-wouldn't go that far!"

Jessie giggled at the teddy's protestation, rolling her eyes. "I would. You miss her. It's clear to me you take what you can get. But brief glimpses from afar never get anyone anywhere. Just ask Buzz. He didn't get anywhere with me by being shy, even if it was really cute."

Ted sighed complacently and muttered, "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

"I don't buy that!" Jessie said sternly, getting up and placing her hands on her hips. "You haven't lost anyone. She's only two doors down."

"Well!" Ted looked surprised at Jessie's sudden determination. "I thought I'd lost my growl - but it turns out they gave it to you, cowgirl."

Jessie laughed, dropping her hands back to her sides. "I'm hardly scary, Ted. It's just we're in the same old briar patch and I know how you feel - just like you know how I feel about Buzz, and being enclosed."

"You know, you have a point." Ted said thoughtfully, "Maybe it might be time for both of us to shake off the enclosed feelings."

Jessie regarded the teddy bear for a moment. "Agreed. So…what are you going to do about yours?"

"Mine?" Ted smiled, and then got to his furry paws, and began to make his way towards the end of the bed. As he left, he called back over his shoulder.

"The family are downstairs. I think I might take a leisurely stroll two doors down."


	21. Final Goodbyes

_So this has been a while longer coming than anticipated. Due to writer's block (again) and a horribly messy, busy week at work, I just havent had the inspiration or the energy. But without further ado, here it is, three years after it was first started - the very final chapter of SLOJ. Enjoy, and dont forget to leave me a review!  
~DC_

* * *

**Chapter 21 – Final Goodbyes**

It was half an hour later that two pairs of footsteps were heard on the stairs. Within moments, the door was pushed open and Lawrence appeared. He wandered in, clutching Buzz under his right arm. Lizzie hovered in the doorway, watching with what Jessie perceived to be an affectionate demeanour.

"Lawrence, you need to put Buzz down." Lizzie now instructed. "You know the rule, no toys at the dinner table."

"His name isn't Buzz!" Lawrence protested, but deposited Buzz onto the bed anyway. "His name's Mr Lightyear!"

"Yes. His name is Buzz Lightyear." Lizzie agreed, but Lawrence folded his arms.

"No. MISTER Lightyear," he insisted, determination showing on his little face. Lizzie could be seen stifling a look that merged somewhere between shock and amusement. She didn't have time to say anything further because from downstairs her mother's voice could be heard calling them for dinner.

"Food!" Lawrence yelped, snapping out of his brief sulky mood. He made for the door again, and as the little boy passed by Lizzie, she ruffled his hair affectionately. "Go wash your hands kiddo, I'll see you downstairs."

Before she left, Lizzie shot a look at Jessie on the bed, and the cowgirl doll giggled shortly to herself. Lawrence's little temper burst reminded Jessie of Andy when he used to get angry at his mother as a small boy.

Buzz raised himself into a sitting position when the coast was clear, and Jessie hopped up from her place on the bed to give her boyfriend a hug. "How was it downstairs?" She asked, kneeling down besides him, and Buzz shrugged.

"It was fine. Got showed off to Lizzie's parents, and then Lawrence had me on his lap throughout an entire episode of some show that had superhero turtles in it." He frowned. "They'd clearly be no match for Zurg."

Jessie wrinkled her nose. "Sounds a bit far fetched to me," she commented. She fell silent for a moment, as Buzz stroked her back.

"You know, Lawrence is going home today." He murmured to Jessie. She glanced at the space toy, her heart beginning to break all over again.

"But it seems that you just got here." She whispered sadly, a pout forming on her otherwise pretty little mouth as she laid her hand on his thigh.

"Well, how about we do something to keep us thinking of the other?" Buzz suggested, with a twinkle in his eye.

Jessie laughed, lifting her hand from his thigh to lightly smack his forearm. "Behave yourself," she smirked, amused, before another idea entered her head. _"How about…?"_

Without giving it a second thought, the cowgirl hopped up from her kneeling position, spotting the laptop sitting by itself at the very bottom of the bed. She ran over to fire it up; thanking her lucky stars that Trixie had taught her multiple times at Bonnie's how to switch on electronic devices such as this. She fiddled with it for a moment after the main screen loaded, then clicked on the buttons as Buzz looked on from his spot nearby.

"Firefly?" Jessie called, and the Little Pony fluttered closer. Before Buzz knew what was happening, Jessie was next to him again, physically dragging him off the bed and down to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Buzz asked, perplexed, as Jessie pushed him back over towards the closet.

"Just wait there. You'll get the idea." Jessie grinned, letting him go and darting away to just shy of the bed. There was a good metre of space between them now as she turned up to look at the bed, where Firefly hovered just a few inches above the laptop.

"Would you care to do the honours?" Jessie called to the Little Pony, who bleated in response and used her little front hoof to hit the spacebar. A song blared from the small speakers on the electronic device, and the cowgirl's face broke into a smile.

"_Now I've, had, the time of my life…"_

To her further amusement, after the introduction to the music was done and she began to dance to the music, she saw Buzz's eyes widen and his jaw drop slightly. She giggled inwardly; she'd never seen him drool so much over her dancing. She thought back to the Spanish dance, which he had basically taken the lead in and she had been forced to ad lib her steps to match his. With the tables turned, she wondered how he'd fare.

As she danced into the centre of the space available, her hips swishing in the way she'd seen the lady do in that dancing movie she had watched with Lizzie a few weeks previously, she noticed the other toys doing much the same as the toys had done that first afternoon in the playroom at Bonnie's – they gathered into a circle to surround her and her spaceman. She saw that Bullseye was peeking just over the top of some of the smaller toys, unable to assist her with turning on the music this time around, but he had a funny little smile on his horsey face all the same.

Returning her attention to what she was doing, Jessie beckoned to Buzz to dance forward and join her in the centre, which he did with some hesitation. She noticed, for an instant, that old shyness creeping back into him; the one thing that had intrigued her about him all those years ago.

As the music picked up, with some degree of shock Jessie felt Buzz's hand grasp hers and pull her close into him. It was almost as if he knew what she was thinking, because he suddenly twirled her around in a circle under his arm before he started to lead her around in some kind of tango style movement. As he let her go at last, she took a few steps backwards, continuing to shake her hips at him, noticing with satisfaction that he was still looking on in awe.

Jessie stopped moving backwards, having made enough space between herself and her beloved to carry on. She began to dance forward again, mouthing the words to Buzz as she did so.

"_With my body and soul, I'll want you more than you'll ever know…."_

As she met him in the centre once more, he wrapped his arm around her middle, a gesture she reciprocated, enabling them to walk in an opposite circular direction to each other. For a moment, their eyes met, but it was only brief, because suddenly Buzz had her at arm's length again. Their fingers locked together and he spun her, along his arm and into his embrace. Caught like that, with their bodies touching so she could feel the sparks coming off the heat between them, Jessie started to giggle nervously, unable to maintain her composure any longer.

She didn't quite know how it happened, but she suddenly felt Buzz shift behind her, as he grasped her slim waist firmly before suddenly dipping her, in a move that felt unusual but yet so familiar. It was their signature, the very same move he'd performed back at Bonnie's, she realised, that simple act of draping her backwards over his lap. Her hat skimmed the surface of the carpeted floor, and she felt a rush of elation surge through her.

He pulled her back upright and Jessie felt her face flush. Time stood still as they gazed into each other's eyes. It was nothing like the movie Jessie had watched with Lizzie, but the way Buzz was looking at her made it ten times more romantic. Without another word she let him pull her to her feet completely, and the two of them began to sway to the music.

A little cheer went up as Buzz enveloped her in his arms, and looking around, Jessie saw Firefly doing loop-de-loops above the bed, and chuckled softly. Laying her head on Buzz's shoulder, she noticed that Woody was down on the floor from his perch on the dresser, and was being unmercifully being bounced around by the yellow bunny Primrose, who was rather clumsy on her chubby feet.

A brush of fur against her arm made Jessie turn her head another way now, and to her surprise she saw Ted there just next to her, swaying around a very pretty female teddy bear. She had a big fake rose tucked behind her ear, and her cheeks were pink with some fake blush that the toymakers had swept onto it. Ted gave Jessie a wink, and the cowgirl winked back subtly with a smile.

As the song started to wind down, Jessie stayed wrapped up in Buzz's arms, even as the other toys started to disperse, chattering amongst themselves. As Jessie pulled back, she started to giggle a little, and Buzz smiled down at her. Their faces were inches apart, and suddenly Jessie closed the gap between them in a soft unyielding kiss.

* * *

"Jessie?"

The cowgirl doll half expected to see the space ranger behind her when she heard her name spoken much later that night. But it was not to be, she knew that well enough.

Lizzie had gone to town with Lawrence. It was the halfway point she had always chosen the last few years to meet Lawrence's foster parents in order to pick up her son, unbeknownst to her parents. Of course, she didn't need to hide him from them any longer, but old habits had died hard with the young woman and she had stuck to the routine to avoid confusing the small boy. However, while helping him on with his coat whilst in her room that afternoon, she had made a solemn promise to her young son to see him more often in future; rather than just Christmas and other special occasions.

It had been heart-warming for Jessie to see the little boy hug Lizzie. The cowgirl was pretty sure Lawrence didn't know Lizzie was really his mother, even all that had happened. She herself had only learned a few choice snippets of what had happened downstairs from Woody, right before her outburst about Pamela back in the spare room. But she knew enough to put two and two together and come up with four.

She had already said her final goodbye to Buzz before Lawrence had even entered the room. Lizzie had told them that they were due to be leaving around four pm, and to say their piece before that time.

So at three pm, with heavy hearts, the cowgirl and space toy had found a spot that was privy to them both – the comfort of the cushion they had spent a night on together, that first time Buzz came to 'rescue' Jessie so many weeks previous. They dragged it behind the futon in the corner of the room, and rested there, Jessie with her head on Buzz's lap. They hardly said a word in those long minutes, but finally Jessie sat up.

"Don't miss me too much, will ya?" The sentence was careless, and tears sprang to her eyes as she voiced it aloud. Buzz's face dropped and he pulled the quivering cowgirl into his arms, hugging her fiercely.

"I'll try," Jessie heard his voice break a little as she buried herself against him, soaking up every last bit of him; how his arms felt against her back, how her head found the correct area of his chest plate to snuggle into, how his fingers entwined in her hair, how his breath made his chest rise and fall…

The last kiss, Jessie thought to herself, had been the most poignant. They had shared it right before Buzz entered the backpack and zipped it up around himself. She held onto that memory, not wanting to let it fade like the light outside the window had so quickly that day.

_But at least they had gotten the chance to say goodbye this time._

"Jessie?" The voice from behind her made her turn this time; again, she knew it would not be her Buzz.

"What is it?" With a weary heart, Jessie looked up at her owner from her spot on the windowsill. She noticed that Lizzie had a look in her eye that the cowgirl couldn't quite place. In her hands, Lizzie held Woody and Bullseye, the two of which she placed down either side of Jessie. Woody flopped down into a sitting position and smiled at his sister as Bullseye nosed at Jessie's hat, almost blowing it off as he let out a little snort.

"You remember that evening when you were crying on the windowsill, and then we had that heart to heart?" Lizzie asked, and Jessie nodded, holding onto her hat as Bullseye continued to snort happily behind her. She reached up a hand to pet the steed, wondering what was coming.

"Well, you said your owner was moving to Nebraska?" Lizzie asked, and Jessie glanced at Woody, who shrugged. The cowgirl turned, nodding silently a second time at Lizzie's words.

"Well then," Lizzie grinned, spurred on by Jessie's agreement. "About Nebraska… I thought you, and Woody and Bullseye of course, might like to take a little trip."

"What? Where?" Jessie squeaked, her eyes widening. Next to her, Woody grinned, and Bullseye gave another happy snort.

"To Nebraska, of course." Lizzie laughed a little, amused by Jessie's reaction.

"Say yes, Jessie," Woody urged her, and Jessie whipped around to look at her brother.

"You knew already?" She challenged him.

"We were sworn to secrecy until Lizzie could figure out the details with Lawrence's parents this afternoon, but yes…" Woody grinned.

"Well…" Jessie thought for a moment, and suddenly all the images from the websites she had perused back at Amber's house went flashing through her memory bank, and her heart momentarily swelled in joy. She was going to get to see her Wild West setting after all! A small smile etched itself onto her features before she paused her thoughts to wonder aloud. "But….what's so important about Nebraska? Surely we're not just going there for the scenery?"

"Well," Lizzie continued her speech to the delighted cowgirl, "I thought we might go and pay a visit. It just so happens, out of all the places on this continent….Lawrence's parents live in Nebraska. I thought we could go and visit in the New Year." She paused, before adding…

"Buzz will be there, of course…."

**~The End~**


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